2025 Best Music Schools in the Great Lakes Region
54
Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
3,842
Music Degrees Awarded
$29,590
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.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 54 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Music Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,842 degrees in music annually.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings
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Featured Music Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
MBA in Music Business
Earn the music business degree that fits into the business world – and partners Southern New Hampshire University with world-renowned Berklee College of Music.
Learn More
Choosing a Great Music School
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
The music school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Music Schools in the Great Lakes Region.
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.
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Featured Music Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
MBA in Music Business
Earn the music business degree that fits into the business world – and partners Southern New Hampshire University with world-renowned Berklee College of Music.
Learn More
Best Schools for Music in the Great Lakes Region
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. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools in Music
It's hard to beat Northwestern University if you want to pursue a degree in music. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Evanston. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.
There were approximately 170 music students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the music program make an average of $27,637 for their early career.
More information about a degree in music from Northwestern University
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in music. U-M is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were about 185 music students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the music program report average early career earnings of $20,262.
More information about a degree in music from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Masters
Degree Type
MBA in Music Business
Program Name
Earn the music business degree that fits into the business world – and partners Southern New Hampshire University with world-renowned Berklee College of Music.
More information about a degree in MBA in Music Business from Southern New Hampshire University
Every student who is interested in music has to look into Michigan State University. Located in the small city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #54 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Michigan State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 165 music students who graduated with this degree at Michigan State in the most recent year we have data available. Music degree recipients from Michigan State University receive an earnings boost of about $11,351 over the typical income of music graduates.
More information about a degree in music from Michigan State University
Any student who is interested in music needs to check out Indiana University - Bloomington. IU Bloomington is a very large public university located in the city of Bloomington. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means IU Bloomington is a great university overall.
There were about 389 music students who graduated with this degree at IU Bloomington in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the music program report average early career earnings of $26,635.
More information about a degree in music from Indiana University - Bloomington
Bachelor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
6th
Most Popular In IN
Located in the suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.
There were roughly 8 music students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in music from University of Notre Dame
UC is a very large public university located in the city of Cincinnati. A Best Colleges rank of #137 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC is a great university overall.
There were roughly 219 music students who graduated with this degree at UC in the most recent data year. After graduation, music degree recipients generally make about $24,077 in their early careers.
More information about a degree in music from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus
Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #41 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.
There were roughly 132 music students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the music program earn about $22,810 for their early career.
More information about a degree in music from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Located in the fringe town of Oberlin, Oberlin is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. This college ranks 17th out of 91 colleges for overall quality in the state of Ohio.
There were roughly 140 music students who graduated with this degree at Oberlin in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the music program state that they receive average early career income of $17,141.
More information about a degree in music from Oberlin College
Ohio State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Columbus. A Best Colleges rank of #70 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Ohio State is a great university overall.
There were about 70 music students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the music program state that they receive average early career wages of $27,190.
More information about a degree in music from Ohio State University - Main Campus
Located in the city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #135 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means DePaul is a great university overall.
There were roughly 85 music students who graduated with this degree at DePaul in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the music program report average early career earnings of $24,066.
More information about a degree in music from DePaul University
