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2024 Best Music Schools in North Carolina

15 Colleges in North Carolina
553 Music Degrees Awarded
$22,568 Avg Early-Career Salary
Music is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #43 most popular degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual looked at 15 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Music Schools in North Carolina ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 553 degrees in music during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Music School

Best Music Schools in North Carolina Your choice of music school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Music School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Music Rankings by Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Music
Master's Degrees in Music
Doctor's Degrees in Music

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Music Schools in North Carolina list, to help you choose the best school for you. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Music in North Carolina

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the music degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top North Carolina Schools in Music

1
Duke crest
Duke University
Durham, NC
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
11th Most Popular In NC

Duke University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in music. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #7 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Duke is a great university overall.

There were roughly 11 music students who graduated with this degree at Duke in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in music from Duke University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
47 Music Degrees Awarded
$25,813 Median Starting Salary

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in music. UNC Chapel Hill is a very large public university located in the city of Chapel Hill. A Best Colleges rank of #43 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UNC Chapel Hill is a great university overall.

There were approximately 47 music students who graduated with this degree at UNC Chapel Hill in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the music major at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill make $3,245 more than the average college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in music from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
48 Music Degrees Awarded
14.6% Growth in Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in music needs to check out University of North Carolina School of the Arts. UNCSA is a small public university located in the medium-sized city of Winston Salem.

There were about 48 music students who graduated with this degree at UNCSA in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, music degree recipients typically earn about $21,115 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a degree in music from University of North Carolina School of the Arts

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
105 Music Degrees Awarded
18.1% Growth in Graduates

It is hard to beat University of North Carolina at Greensboro if you want to pursue a degree in music. UNC Greensboro is a large public university located in the large city of Greensboro. This university ranks 12th out of 93 schools for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.

There were roughly 105 music students who graduated with this degree at UNC Greensboro in the most recent year we have data available. Music degree recipients from University of North Carolina at Greensboro get an earnings boost of around $2,618 above the typical earnings of music graduates.

More information about a degree in music from University of North Carolina at Greensboro

5
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In NC
$26,000 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Charlotte, UNC Charlotte is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #378 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UNC Charlotte is a great university overall.

There were roughly 21 music students who graduated with this degree at UNC Charlotte in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in music from University of North Carolina at Charlotte

6
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
50 Music Degrees Awarded
18.0% Growth in Graduates

WCU is a large public university located in the town of Cullowhee. This university ranks 17th out of 93 colleges for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.

There were approximately 50 music students who graduated with this degree at WCU in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, music degree recipients generally make around $23,792 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in music from Western Carolina University

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In NC
45 Music Degrees Awarded

ECU is a fairly large public university located in the city of Greenville. A Best Colleges rank of #414 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means ECU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 45 music students who graduated with this degree at ECU in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in music from East Carolina University

8

Located in the distant town of Boone, Appalachian State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #445 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Appalachian State is a great university overall.

There were about 24 music students who graduated with this degree at Appalachian State in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the music program earn around $19,708 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in music from Appalachian State University

9
High Point crest
High Point University
High Point, NC
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
33rd Most Popular In NC
66.7% Growth in Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of High Point, High Point is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 18th out of 93 colleges for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.

There were about 6 music students who graduated with this degree at High Point in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in music from High Point University

9
Meredith crest
Meredith College
Raleigh, NC
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
26th Most Popular In NC

Meredith is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large city of Raleigh. A Best Colleges rank of #517 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Meredith is a great college overall.

There were roughly 3 music students who graduated with this degree at Meredith in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in music from Meredith College

Best Music Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Music Schools in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

StateCollegesDegrees Awarded
Georgia287453
Florida2821,204
Virginia274629
Tennessee269803
South Carolina248203
Kentucky244278
Louisiana242315
Mississippi234181
Arkansas234175
Alabama233276
West Virginia20793

View All Rankings >

Music is one of 10 different types of Visual & Performing Arts programs to choose from.

Music Focus Areas

MajorAnnual Graduates
General Music243
Music Performance242
Musicology & Ethnomusicology15
Jazz Studies15
Music Technology11
Music Theory & Composition10
Other Music8
Music Pedagogy6
Voice Performance2
Music History1

View All Music Focus Areas >

Related MajorAnnual Graduates
Design & Applied Arts1,766
Fine & Studio Arts713
Drama & Theater Arts466
Film, Video & Photographic Arts244
Dance127
Arts & Media Management110
General Visual & Performing Arts81
Other Visual Art13
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry12

View All Music Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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