by our College Data Analytics TeamCollege Factual looked at 15 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 557 bachelor's degrees in music during the 2022-2023 academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
Earn the music business degree that fits into the business world – and partners Southern New Hampshire University with world-renowned Berklee College of Music.
Your choice of music for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality music program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
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.
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for music students working on their bachelor's degree.
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 Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois list to help you make the college decision.
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.
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
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 about the top ranked colleges and universities for music students seeking a a bachelor's degree.
Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in music has to look into Northwestern University. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Evanston.
Music bachelor's degree recipients from Northwestern University earn a boost of about $6,807 over the average earnings of music graduates.
More information about a bachelor’s in music from Northwestern University
It's hard to beat University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in music. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the music program state that they receive average early career income of $13,128.
More information about a bachelor’s in music from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in music has to check out DePaul University. Located in the large city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the music program report average early career income of $19,155.
More information about a bachelor’s in music from DePaul University
Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in music has to look into Wheaton College Illinois. Wheaton College Illinois is a small private not-for-profit college located in the suburb of Wheaton.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the music program state that they receive average early career wages of $26,540.
More information about a bachelor’s in music from Wheaton College Illinois
Located in the large city of Chicago, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the music program report average early career wages of $19,943.
More information about a bachelor’s in music from Columbia College Chicago
Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public university with a very large student population.
Bachelor's recipients from the music major at Illinois State University get $4,837 above the average college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a bachelor’s in music from Illinois State University
Located in the city of Chicago, Roosevelt is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Roosevelt University
NIU is a fairly large public university located in the small suburb of Dekalb.
Those music students who get their bachelor's degree from Northern Illinois University earn $14,814 more than the standard music student.
More information about a bachelor’s in music from Northern Illinois University
Millikin is a small private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Decatur.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the music program report average early career income of $21,138.
More information about a bachelor’s in music from Millikin University
UIC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Chicago.More information about a bachelor’s in music from University of Illinois at Chicago
Explore all the Best Music Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.
Music is one of 10 different types of Visual & Performing Arts programs to choose from.
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| General Music | 238 |
| Music Performance | 157 |
| Voice Performance | 25 |
| Stringed Instruments | 25 |
| Music Theory & Composition | 24 |
| Jazz Studies | 24 |
| Music Technology | 24 |
| Other Music | 20 |
| Keyboard Instruments | 9 |
| Music Pedagogy | 6 |
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Fine & Studio Arts | 1,222 |
| Design & Applied Arts | 735 |
| Drama & Theater Arts | 734 |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 446 |
| Arts & Media Management | 144 |
| General Visual & Performing Arts | 75 |
| Dance | 47 |
| Other Visual Art | 37 |
