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2025 Best Music Master's Degree Schools

150 Colleges in the United States
5,531 Master's Degrees
$31,501 Avg Early-Career Salary
a master's degree in music is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #36 out of 343 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 150 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for music students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 5,531 master's degrees in music to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Music School for Your Master's Degree

Best Music Master's Degree Schools The music master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality music program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for music students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Music Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Music Master's Degree Schools list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Music in the United States

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in music. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

25 Top Schools for a Master's in Music

1

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in music has to look into Northwestern University. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Evanston.

Students who graduate with their master's from the music program state that they receive average early career earnings of $21,290.

More information about a master’s in music from Northwestern University

2
NYU crest
New York University
New York, NY

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in music needs to check out New York University. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the music program earn an average of $32,175 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in music from New York University

3

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is a good option for individuals pursuing a master's degree in music. U-M is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor.

After graduation, music master's recipients usually make about $16,971 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in music from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

4

It is difficult to beat University of Southern California if you want to pursue a master's degree in music. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Students who graduate with their master's from the music program report average early career income of $27,510.

More information about a master’s in music from University of Southern California

5
Boston U crest
Boston University
Boston, MA
56 Annual Graduates

Boston U is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Boston.More information about a master’s in music from Boston University

6

Johns Hopkins is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Baltimore.

Students who graduate with their master's from the music program report average early career income of $30,761.

More information about a master’s in music from Johns Hopkins University

7
Juilliard crest
The Juilliard School
New York, NY

Juilliard is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the music program make an average of $14,101 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a master’s in music from The Juilliard School

8

Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the music program report average early career wages of $23,278.

More information about a master’s in music from Carnegie Mellon University

9
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI

Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a very large student population.

Music master's degree recipients from Michigan State University receive an earnings boost of around $10,983 above the average income of music majors.

More information about a master’s in music from Michigan State University

10

Located in the midsize city of Rochester, University of Rochester is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the music program make around $18,056 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in music from University of Rochester

11

IU Bloomington is a very large public university located in the small city of Bloomington.

Students who graduate with their master's from the music program report average early career wages of $22,513.

More information about a master’s in music from Indiana University - Bloomington

12
17 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Fort Worth, TCU is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in music from Texas Christian University

13

SFCM is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Francisco.

Master's recipients from the music program at San Francisco Conservatory of Music earn $3,524 more than the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in music from San Francisco Conservatory of Music

14
U Miami crest
University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL

U Miami is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Coral Gables.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the music program make about $25,623 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in music from University of Miami

15
Messiah crest
Messiah University
Mechanicsburg, PA

Messiah is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Mechanicsburg.

Master's recipients from the music major at Messiah University make $34,608 above the typical college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in music from Messiah University

16
New School University crest
The New School
New York, NY

New School University is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.

After graduating, music master's recipients generally make around $18,911 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in music from The New School

17

Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the music program make about $15,520 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in music from University of California - Los Angeles

18

UC is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Cincinnati.

Students who graduate with their master's from the music program state that they receive average early career wages of $25,713.

More information about a master’s in music from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

19
Syracuse crest
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY
14 Annual Graduates

Syracuse is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Syracuse.More information about a master’s in music from Syracuse University

20

Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the music program report average early career income of $27,179.

More information about a master’s in music from The University of Texas at Austin

21

Located in the city of Boston, Berklee College of Music is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the music program report average early career wages of $25,163.

More information about a master’s in music from Berklee College of Music

22

The New England Conservatory of Music is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Boston.

Master's students who receive their degree from the music program earn about $24,499 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in music from The New England Conservatory of Music

23

Manhattan School of Music is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.

Students who graduate with their master's from the music program report average early career earnings of $18,441.

More information about a master’s in music from Manhattan School of Music

24
Ithaca crest
Ithaca College
Ithaca, NY
19 Annual Graduates

Ithaca is a small private not-for-profit college located in the suburb of Ithaca.More information about a master’s in music from Ithaca College

25
Temple crest
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA

Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Temple is a public university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the music program state that they receive average early career income of $21,826.

More information about a master’s in music from Temple University

Rest of the Top Best Music Master's Degree Schools

26
27
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Belmont University
Nashville, TN
28
Florida State crest
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL
29
30

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Music Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
31 University of Hartford West Hartford, CT
32 University of South Carolina - Columbia Columbia, SC
33 Brigham Young University - Provo Provo, UT
34 University of Denver Denver, CO
35 Bowling Green State University - Main Campus Bowling Green, OH
36 DePaul University Chicago, IL
37 University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, MA
38 University of Oregon Eugene, OR
39 University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA
40 Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX
41 University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI
42 Ohio University - Athens Campus Athens, OH
43 University of Florida Gainesville, FL
44 University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD
45 Baylor University Waco, TX
46 Butler University Indianapolis, IN
47 University of Missouri - Kansas City Kansas City, MO
48 Roosevelt University Chicago, IL
49 Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX
50 Rutgers University - New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ

Music by Region

View the Best Music Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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

Music Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Music Performance 1,908
General Music 1,619
Voice Performance 280
Music Theory & Composition 279
Stringed Instruments 269
Keyboard Instruments 214
Other Music 180
Jazz Studies 177
Music Pedagogy 171
Music Technology 109

Majors Similar to Music

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 2,948
Design & Applied Arts 1,944
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 1,704
Drama & Theater Arts 1,670
Arts & Media Management 1,110
General Visual & Performing Arts 365
Other Visual Art 298
Dance 233
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry 5
Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art 1

Notes and References

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Degree Guides by Major
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