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2025 Best Music Performance Doctor's Degree Schools

19 Colleges in the United States
458 Doctor's Degrees
If you pursue a doctor's degree in music performance, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #53 most popular program in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 19 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Music Performance Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 458 doctor's degrees in music performance during the <nil> academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Music Performance School for Your Doctor's Degree

Best Music Performance Doctor's Degree Schools Your choice of music performance for getting your doctor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality music performance program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a doctor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

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 performance students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Music Performance Schools

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

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Music Performance Doctor's Degree Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Music Performance in the United States

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for music performance students seeking a a doctor's degree.

10 Top Schools for a Doctorate in Music Performance

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
19 Annual Graduates

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in music performance. U-M is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor.More information about a doctorate in music performance from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
20 Annual Graduates

University of Rochester is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in music performance. Located in the city of Rochester, University of Rochester is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in music performance from University of Rochester

3
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
38 Annual Graduates

Michigan State University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in music performance. Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in music performance from Michigan State University

4
Boston U crest
Boston University
Boston, MA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
19 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in music performance has to check out Boston University. Boston U is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Boston.More information about a doctorate in music performance from Boston University

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
31 Annual Graduates

IU Bloomington is a very large public university located in the small city of Bloomington.More information about a doctorate in music performance from Indiana University - Bloomington

6
U Miami crest
University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
11 Annual Graduates

U Miami is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Coral Gables.More information about a doctorate in music performance from University of Miami

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
42 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Denton, UNT is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in music performance from University of North Texas

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
11 Annual Graduates

UofSC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Columbia.More information about a doctorate in music performance from University of South Carolina - Columbia

9
Florida State crest
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
29 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Tallahassee, Florida State is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in music performance from Florida State University

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
16 Annual Graduates

Rutgers New Brunswick is a fairly large public university located in the city of New Brunswick.More information about a doctorate in music performance from Rutgers University - New Brunswick

Music Performance by Region

View the Best Music Performance Doctor'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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One of 17 majors within the Music area of study, Music Performance has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Music Performance

Related Major Annual Graduates
General Music 567
Music Theory & Composition 66
Music Pedagogy 61
Keyboard Instruments 52
Musicology & Ethnomusicology 35
Conducting 35
Stringed Instruments 23
Other Music 23
Voice Performance 13
Music History 8

Notes and References

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