2025 Best Music Associate Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

If you plan on getting your associate degree in music, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #53 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 3 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Music Associate Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,015 associate degrees in music to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Music School for Your Associate Degree

Your choice of music for getting your associate degree school matters. 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

The overall quality of a associate 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 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

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their associate degree from the school. After all, your associate 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 - How many other music students want to attend this school to pursue a associate 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.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for music to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized music related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for music students working on their associate degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Music Associate Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Music in the Far Western US Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in music.

Top Far Western US Region Schools for an Associate in Music

1

Shoreline Community College
Shoreline, WA

23 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat Shoreline Community College if you want to pursue an associate degree in music. Shoreline Community College is a small public college located in the large suburb of Shoreline.More information about a associate in music from Shoreline Community College

2

Portland Community College
Portland, OR

23 Annual Graduates

Portland Community College is a good choice for individuals interested in an associate degree in music. Located in the large city of Portland, Portland Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population.More information about a associate in music from Portland Community College

3

Los Angeles Film School
Hollywood, CA

389 Annual Graduates

$21,399 Median Starting Salary

$17,464 Median Student Debt

It's difficult to beat Los Angeles Film School if you want to pursue an associate degree in music. Located in the large city of Hollywood, LA Film School is a private for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Associate students who receive their degree from the music program earn an average of $21,399 for their early career.

More information about a associate in music from Los Angeles Film School

Best Music Colleges by State

Explore the best music colleges for a specific state in the Far Western US Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
California	192	1,149
Oregon	147	31
Washington	131	52
Nevada	112	4
Hawaii	59	11

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Rankings in Majors Related to Music

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
General Music	518
Music Technology	367
Music Theory & Composition	81
Music Performance	42
Other Music	6
Stringed Instruments	1

Most Popular Majors Related to Music

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts	2,358
Design & Applied Arts	1,514
General Visual & Performing Arts	720
Drama & Theater Arts	719
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	493
Dance	83
Other Visual Art	10
Arts & Media Management	6

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.