2025 Best Music Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region
Music is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #36 most popular master's degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
College Factual looked at 27 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Music Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,004 master's degrees in music to qualified students.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
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Featured Music 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
Choosing a Great Music School for Your Master's Degree
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. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
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 Early-Career Salaries
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
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 students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - The number of music students who choose to seek a master'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.
- Student Debt - How much debt music students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized music related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for music students working on their master's degree.
One Size Does Not Fit All
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 in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision.
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Featured Music 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
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Music in the Great Lakes Region
Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for music students seeking a a master's degree.
10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Master's in Music
Northwestern University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in music. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Evanston.
After graduation, music master's recipients typically make about $21,290 at the beginning of their careers.
More information about a master’s in music from Northwestern University
It is hard to beat University of Michigan - Ann Arbor if you want to pursue a master's degree in music. U-M is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor.
Master's students who receive their degree from the music program make an average of $16,971 in their early career salary.
More information about a master’s in music from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in music has to check out Michigan State University. Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the music degree program at Michigan State University get $12,878 more than the typical college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a master’s in music from Michigan State University
Every student who is interested in a master's degree in music has to check out Indiana University - Bloomington. IU Bloomington is a very large public university located in the small city of Bloomington.
Soon after graduating, music master's recipients typically earn around $22,513 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a master’s in music from Indiana University - Bloomington
UC is a very large public university located in the city of Cincinnati.
Soon after graduating, music master's recipients generally make around $25,713 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a master’s in music from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus