2021 Best Music Colleges for Non-Traditional Students
125Colleges
15,545Bachelor's Degrees
$30,144Avg Cost*
Finding the Best Music Schools for Non-Traditional Students
Music is the #34th most popular major in the country with 15,545 bachelor's degrees awarded in <nil>.
For this year's Best Music Colleges for Non-Traditional Students ranking, we looked at 125 colleges that offer a bachelor's in music. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent music programs, but they also offer a lot of support to non-traditional students.
Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the music program at the school, affordability, and non-traditional population. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
As a non-traditional student, you have a lot to consider when it comes to choosing an education. That's why we've developed rankings specifically for you. Check out more major-related rankings here..
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.
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.
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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.
University of Houston tops the 2021 list of our schools in the United States that are best for non-traditional music students. UH is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Houston. UH not only placed well in our non-traditional rankings. It is also #1 on our Best Colleges for Music list.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.5%. There are approximately 26,121 students at UH that take at least one class online. 13,663 students are part time.
Our rankings recognize University of North Texas as the #2 school in this year's rankings. UNT is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Denton. On top of its placing in our non-traditional rankings, UNT also did well on our Best Colleges for Music list. It's in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in that analysis.
About 1.8% of UNT students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. Approximately 20,194 students take at least one class online at UNT. 12,105 of UNT students are attending part time.
Michigan State University landed the #3 spot in our 2021 best music schools for non-traditional students. Michigan State is a fairly large public school located in the small city of East Lansing. Michigan State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our Best Colleges for Music list.
About 0.8% of Michigan State students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. There are approximately 33,526 students at Michigan State that take at least one class online. There are roughly 6,517 part time students in attendance at Michigan State.
The #4 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Texas Tech University. Located in the city of Lubbock, Texas Tech is a public school with a fairly large student population. Texas Tech also made our Best Colleges for Music list, coming in at #6.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 1.4%. Approximately 22,394 students take at least one class online at Texas Tech. There are roughly 7,077 part time students in attendance at Texas Tech.
George Mason University comes in at #5 in this year's ranking. GMU is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Fairfax. GMU also took the #9 spot in our Best Colleges for Music rankings.
The student loan default rate at GMU is lower than is typical, just 0.8% of students default in three years. There are approximately 21,490 students at GMU that take at least one class online. 12,712 of GMU students are attending part time.
University of Utah earned the #6 spot in our 2021 rankings. U of U is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Salt Lake City. U of U did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our Best Colleges for Music list.
About 0.8% of U of U students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. Approximately 19,378 students take at least one class online at U of U. 7,185 of U of U students are attending part time.
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley comes in at #7 in this year's ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Edinburg, UT Rio Grande Valley is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The student loan default rate at UT Rio Grande Valley is lower than is typical, just 0.1% of students default in three years. There are approximately 16,522 students at UT Rio Grande Valley that take at least one class online. 10,418 of UT Rio Grande Valley students are attending part time.
Rutgers University - New Brunswick landed the #8 spot in our 2021 best music schools for non-traditional students. Rutgers New Brunswick is a fairly large public school located in the small city of New Brunswick. Rutgers New Brunswick also claimed a spot on our Best Colleges for Music list. It's in the top 10% of all schools in this category.
About 1.1% of Rutgers New Brunswick students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. There are approximately 30,054 students at Rutgers New Brunswick that take at least one class online. 7,559 of Rutgers New Brunswick students are attending part time.
Our rankings recognize Sam Houston State University as the #9 school in this year's rankings. Located in the town of Huntsville, SHSU is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 1.2%. There are approximately 8,795 students at SHSU that take at least one class online. 6,353 of SHSU students are attending part time.
Our rankings recognize West Chester University of Pennsylvania as the #10 school in this year's rankings. WCUPA is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of West Chester. As a testament to the quality of education it offers, WCUPA also is in the top 15% of our Best Colleges for Music ranking.
About 1.2% of WCUPA students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. There are approximately 4,464 students at WCUPA that take at least one class online. About 3,854 of the students at WCUPA are attending part time.
Our rankings recognize University of South Carolina - Columbia as the #11 school in this year's rankings. UofSC is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Columbia. UofSC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our Best Colleges for Music list.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 1.6%. Approximately 16,608 students take at least one class online at UofSC. There are roughly 3,896 part time students in attendance at UofSC.
James Madison University earned the #12 spot in our 2021 rankings. Located in the city of Harrisonburg, JMU is a public school with a very large student population. As a testament to the quality of education it offers, JMU also is in the top 10% of our Best Colleges for Music ranking.
About 0.8% of JMU students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. Approximately 6,740 students take at least one class online at JMU. 2,328 students are part time.
University of Nevada - Las Vegas comes in at #13 in this year's ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Las Vegas, UNLV is a public college with a fairly large student population.
About 1.5% of UNLV students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. Approximately 15,438 students take at least one class online at UNLV. 8,226 of UNLV students are attending part time.
Our rankings recognize The University of Texas at Austin as the #14 school in this year's rankings. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a very large student population. As a testament to the quality of education offered at UT Austin, the school also landed the #5 rank in our Best Colleges for Music ranking.
The student loan default rate at UT Austin is lower than is typical, just 0.8% of students default in three years. Approximately 23,198 students take at least one class online at UT Austin. There are roughly 3,479 part time students in attendance at UT Austin.
Our rankings recognize Stephen F Austin State University as the #15 school in this year's rankings. Located in the town of Nacogdoches, SFASU is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 2.1%. There are approximately 6,979 students at SFASU that take at least one class online. 3,007 students are part time.
University of North Carolina at Greensboro landed the #16 spot in our 2021 best music schools for non-traditional students. Located in the large city of Greensboro, UNC Greensboro is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The student loan default rate at UNC Greensboro is lower than is typical, just 2.7% of students default in three years. Approximately 10,689 students take at least one class online at UNC Greensboro. 4,738 of UNC Greensboro students are attending part time.
Illinois State University comes in at #17 in this year's ranking. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the suburb of Normal. On top of its placing in our non-traditional rankings, Illinois State also did well on our Best Colleges for Music list. It's in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in that analysis.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 1.7%. Approximately 7,464 students take at least one class online at Illinois State. There are roughly 2,500 part time students in attendance at Illinois State.
Florida State University landed the #18 spot in our 2021 best music schools for non-traditional students. Florida State is a very large public school located in the city of Tallahassee. In addition to being on our bet for non-traditional students list, Florida State is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Music list.
The student loan default rate at Florida State is lower than is typical, just 1.0% of students default in three years. There are approximately 20,172 students at Florida State that take at least one class online. 8,311 of Florida State students are attending part time.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Music Colleges for Non-Traditional Students award.
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).
college factual
Music is the #34th most popular major in the country with 15,545 bachelor's degrees awarded in <nil>.
