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Best Colleges for Music

50 Music programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion — from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

⚡Quick answer

For Music, Messiah University (Pennsylvania) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $77,342. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion — not reputation or cost — across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	Messiah University Mechanicsburg, PA	Master's Degree	$77,342	$21,472	36	92.4
2	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$59,218	$15,175	48	92
3	The University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$60,172	$14,894	29	91.3
4	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA	Master's Degree	$79,115	$14,817	9	90.1
5	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$58,127	$18,007	40	90
6	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	Bachelor's Degree	$59,217	$21,500	44	88.3
7	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$59,198	$22,714	67	88.3
8	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$58,071	$19,500	26	86.8
9	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	Doctoral Degree	$64,672	—	49	86.5
10	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Doctoral Degree	$75,055	—	33	86.1
11	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$53,875	$18,039	86	86
12	University of Hartford West Hartford, CT	Master's Degree	$54,836	$19,227	43	85.4
13	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$65,533	—	33	85.2
14	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$61,446	—	46	85.2
15	Northeastern University Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$60,974	$25,500	40	85.2
16	University of North Texas Denton, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$55,705	$23,425	227	84.8
17	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	Doctoral Degree	$68,660	—	26	84.5
18	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA	Master's Degree	$66,675	—	24	84
19	New Jersey City University Jersey City, NJ	Master's Degree	$82,054	—	19	83.8
20	University of Houston Houston, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$56,667	$25,000	77	83.5
21	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$58,743	$25,630	48	83.5
22	Texas Woman's University Denton, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$56,884	$22,137	24	83.4
23	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	Doctoral Degree	$66,572	—	22	83.3
24	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX	Master's Degree	$68,888	—	20	83.2
25	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Doctoral Degree	$77,654	—	17	83
26	Illinois State University Normal, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$54,767	$20,500	33	82.8
27	Northeastern University Professional Programs Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$60,974	$25,500	—	82.6
28	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	Doctoral Degree	$65,495	—	20	82.3
29	University of Delaware Newark, DE	Master's Degree	$66,502	—	18	82.1
30	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	Bachelor's Degree	$56,104	$24,148	35	82
31	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Doctoral Degree	$59,885	—	30	81.8
32	Texas A & M University-Commerce Commerce, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$55,438	$24,728	48	81.2
33	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Doctoral Degree	$68,693	—	12	81.1
34	Christopher Newport University Newport News, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$63,852	—	17	81.1
35	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	Bachelor's Degree	$56,008	$25,492	44	80.8
36	University of Memphis Memphis, TN	Master's Degree	$57,099	$24,597	23	80.8
37	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$51,882	$20,968	79	80.5
38	Florida International University Miami, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$50,677	$12,722	39	80.4
39	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	Master's Degree	$62,193	$30,158	50	80.2
40	University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC	Doctoral Degree	$61,755	—	16	80.1
41	The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$53,878	$23,703	44	80.1
42	Boston University Boston, MA	Doctoral Degree	$60,156	—	19	80
43	Academy of Art University San Francisco, CA	Master's Degree	$62,287	—	12	79.6
44	Texas State University San Marcos, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$52,320	$23,250	92	79.6
45	University of North Texas Denton, TX	Doctoral Degree	$64,315	$36,476	45	79.1
46	University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE	Doctoral Degree	$60,133	—	16	79
47	CUNY Graduate School and University Center New York, NY	Doctoral Degree	$59,802	—	18	79
48	University of Georgia Athens, GA	Doctoral Degree	$56,716	—	28	78.8
49	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH	Doctoral Degree	$57,576	—	23	78.8
50	Monmouth University West Long Branch, NJ	Bachelor's Degree	$55,526	$24,625	26	78.7

🔍 Filter Music by state & degree level →

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Hidden Gems for Music

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Music — the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Messiah University Mechanicsburg, PA Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$77,342	79%	92.4
2	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$79,115	91%	90.1
3	University of Hartford West Hartford, CT Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$54,836	96%	85.4
4	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$65,533	93%	85.2
5	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$66,675	78%	84
6	New Jersey City University Jersey City, NJ Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$82,054	98%	83.8
7	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$58,743	90%	83.5
8	Texas Woman's University Denton, TX Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$56,884	96%	83.4
9	Illinois State University Normal, IL Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$54,767	88%	82.8
10	Northeastern University Professional Programs Boston, MA Strong Music outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$60,974	—	82.6
11	University of Delaware Newark, DE Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$66,502	71%	82.1
12	Texas A & M University-Commerce Commerce, TX Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$55,438	92%	81.2

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0–100 within the Music field (CIP 50.09) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Music programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded — never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Music program?+

By our outcome score, Messiah University (Pennsylvania) ranks #1 for Music, with median graduate earnings of $77,342.

How are these Music programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0–100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Music programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

🔍 Music rankings (filterable)🎓 All major rankings 🏫 Browse colleges 🆓 Tuition-free colleges ⭐ All Best-Of guides

Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.