Ranked #34 in popularity, music is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 4 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools in Iowa ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 167 bachelor's degrees in music to qualified students.
Earn the music business degree that fits into the business world – and partners Southern New Hampshire University with world-renowned Berklee College of Music.
Choosing a Great Music School for Your Bachelor's Degree
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. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
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.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor'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:
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 bachelor's 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 bachelor's 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 colleges for music students working on their bachelor's degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools in Iowa list, to help you choose the best school for you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
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Featured Music Programs
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.
Luther College is a good option for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in music. Luther is a small private not-for-profit college located in the remote town of Decorah.
Those music students who get their bachelor's degree from Luther College make $10,143 more than the average music grad.
It is difficult to beat University of Iowa if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in music. Iowa is a very large public university located in the city of Iowa City.
Those music students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Iowa receive $3,897 more than the average music student.
Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in music has to take a look at University of Northern Iowa. Located in the small city of Cedar Falls, UNI is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.
Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the music program make around $32,175 in the first couple years of their career.
Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in music needs to take a look at Grinnell College. Located in the remote town of Grinnell, Grinnell is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Grinnell College
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.