16
Colleges in California
493
Bachelor's Degrees
If you pursue a bachelor's degree in
music performance, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #94 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 16 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Music Performance Bachelor's Degree Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 493 bachelor's degrees in music performance to qualified students.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
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Featured Music Performance 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
Your choice of music performance for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality music performance program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
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 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:
- Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to music performance students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other music performance students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
- Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized music performance related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for music performance students working on their bachelor's degree.
The music performance 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 Performance Bachelor's Degree Schools in California.
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.
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Featured Music Performance 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