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2025 Best Music Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

9 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
296 Doctor's Degrees
$41,937 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a doctor's degree in music, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #22 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 9 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for doctor's degree seekers in the field of music. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 296 doctor's degrees in music during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Music School for Your Doctor's Degree

Best Music Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region Your choice of music for getting your doctor'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 Great Overall School

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.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their doctor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

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 students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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

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 Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Music in the Great Lakes Region

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

Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Doctorate in Music

1
22 Annual Graduates

Northwestern University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in music. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Evanston.More information about a doctorate in music from Northwestern University

2

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

Music doctor's degree recipients from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor earn a boost of approximately $7,742 above the average income of music graduates.

More information about a doctorate in music from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

3
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
51 Annual Graduates

Michigan State University is a great option for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in music. Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in music from Michigan State University

4

Every student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in music needs to check out Indiana University - Bloomington. IU Bloomington is a very large public university located in the small city of Bloomington.

Those music students who get their doctor's degree from Indiana University - Bloomington make $4,624 more than the average music graduate.

More information about a doctorate in music from Indiana University - Bloomington

5

Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their doctorate from the music program report average early career income of $40,102.

More information about a doctorate in music from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

6
17 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in music from University of Wisconsin - Madison

7

UC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Cincinnati.

Students who graduate with their doctorate from the music program report average early career wages of $29,010.

More information about a doctorate in music from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

8

Ohio State is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Columbus.

Music doctor's degree recipients from Ohio State University - Main Campus earn a boost of about $2,396 over the typical earnings of music majors.

More information about a doctorate in music from Ohio State University - Main Campus

9
11 Annual Graduates

Ball State is a very large public university located in the small city of Muncie.More information about a doctorate in music from Ball State University

Best Music Colleges by State

Explore the best music schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Illinois 153 62
Michigan 149 85
Ohio 144 84
Indiana 132 49
Wisconsin 108 24

View All Rankings >

One of 10 majors within the Visual & Performing Arts area of study, Music has other similar majors worth exploring.

Music Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Music Performance 157
General Music 83
Conducting 15
Music Theory & Composition 13
Musicology & Ethnomusicology 9
Keyboard Instruments 8
Stringed Instruments 3
Other Music 3
Music History 2
Music Pedagogy 2

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 30
Drama & Theater Arts 16
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 9
Arts & Media Management 6
General Visual & Performing Arts 4
Design & Applied Arts 2
Dance 1

Notes and References

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