2025 Best Music Theory & Composition Bachelor's Degree Schools in Tennessee

If you plan on getting your bachelor's degree in music theory & composition, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #311 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in Tennessee to determine which ones were the best for music theory & composition students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 14 bachelor's degrees in music theory & composition during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

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 theory & composition students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of music theory & composition students who choose to seek a bachelor's degree at the school.
• 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 theory & composition related body.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

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

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.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Music Theory & Composition in Tennessee

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in music theory & composition.

Top Tennessee Schools for a Bachelor's in Music Composition

1

Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN

3 Annual Graduates

Vanderbilt University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in music theory & composition. Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Nashville.More information about a bachelor’s in music theory & composition from Vanderbilt University

2

Belmont University
Nashville, TN

7 Annual Graduates

Belmont University is a wonderful decision for students interested in a bachelor's degree in music theory & composition. Belmont is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Nashville.More information about a bachelor’s in music theory & composition from Belmont University

Best Music Theory & Composition Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Music Theory & Composition Colleges in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	492	21
North Carolina	453	0
Georgia	453	3
Virginia	421	5
South Carolina	370	4
Alabama	320	3
Louisiana	306	2
Arkansas	294	0
Mississippi	275	0

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Music Theory & Composition Related Rankings by Major

One of 17 majors within the Music area of study, Music Theory & Composition has other similar majors worth exploring.

Most Popular Majors Related to Music Composition

Related Major	Annual Graduates
General Music	235
Other Music	126
Music Technology	118
Music Performance	38
Stringed Instruments	12
Woodwind Instruments	11
Keyboard Instruments	10
Brass Instruments	7
Voice Performance	6
Musicology & Ethnomusicology	4

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard). More about our data sources and methodologies.