If you plan on majoring in music, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #43 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 93 schools in the Southeast Region to determine which ones were the best for music students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 5,431 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.
Your choice of music school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for music schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
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 Schools in the Southeast Region list to help you make the college decision.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to 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.
Earn the music business degree that fits into the business world – and partners Southern New Hampshire University with world-renowned Berklee College of Music.
The schools below may not offer all types of music degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Vanderbilt University is a great choice for students pursuing a degree in music. Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Nashville. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Vanderbilt is a great university overall.
There were about 44 music students who graduated with this degree at Vanderbilt in the most recent year we have data available.
Any student pursuing a degree in music has to look into Belmont University. Belmont is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Nashville. This university ranks 3rd out of 41 schools for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were about 118 music students who graduated with this degree at Belmont in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the music program state that they receive average early career income of $24,852.
Earn the music business degree that fits into the business world – and partners Southern New Hampshire University with world-renowned Berklee College of Music.
Every student pursuing a degree in music needs to look into University of Miami. U Miami is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Coral Gables. This university ranks 6th out of 70 colleges for overall quality in the state of Florida.
There were approximately 190 music students who graduated with this degree at U Miami in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the music program earn about $22,231 in the first couple years of their career.
Florida State University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in music. Located in the midsize city of Tallahassee, Florida State is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #117 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Florida State is a great university overall.
There were about 175 music students who graduated with this degree at Florida State in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, music degree recipients typically earn about $25,428 in the first five years of their career.
UofSC is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Columbia. A Best Colleges rank of #99 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UofSC is a great university overall.
There were about 102 music students who graduated with this degree at UofSC in the most recent data year. Those music students who get their degree from University of South Carolina - Columbia earn $8,791 more than the typical music graduate.
Located in the city of Atlanta, Emory is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #31 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Emory is a great university overall.
There were approximately 28 music students who graduated with this degree at Emory in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the music major at Emory University make $3,840 more than the standard college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
UNC Chapel Hill is a fairly large public university located in the city of Chapel Hill. A Best Colleges rank of #38 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UNC Chapel Hill is a great university overall.
There were roughly 47 music students who graduated with this degree at UNC Chapel Hill in the most recent data year. Those music students who get their degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill make $3,290 more than the average music student.
JMU is a very large public university located in the small city of Harrisonburg. A Best Colleges rank of #141 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means JMU is a great university overall.
There were about 105 music students who graduated with this degree at JMU in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the music major at James Madison University make $6,516 above the standard graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Located in the medium-sized city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #56 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UF is a great university overall.
There were about 95 music students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the music program state that they receive average early career earnings of $22,559.
Located in the midsize suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #35 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means University of Virginia is a great university overall.
There were about 30 music students who graduated with this degree at University of Virginia in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Athens, UGA is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #69 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UGA is a great university overall.
There were roughly 78 music students who graduated with this degree at UGA in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the music program earn about $28,117 in their early career salary.
Located in the city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. This university ranks 11th out of 57 schools for overall quality in the state of Virginia.
There were approximately 158 music students who graduated with this degree at Liberty University in the most recent year we have data available. Music degree recipients from Liberty University receive an earnings boost of about $2,382 above the typical income of music graduates.
UK is a very large public university located in the large city of Lexington. This university ranks 1st out of 39 colleges for overall quality in the state of Kentucky.
There were approximately 72 music students who graduated with this degree at UK in the most recent data year. Those music students who get their degree from University of Kentucky earn $11,358 more than the standard music grad.
Located in the small city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public school with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #58 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Virginia Tech is a great school overall.
There were roughly 21 music students who graduated with this degree at Virginia Tech in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the suburb of Greenville, Furman is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 5th out of 45 schools for overall quality in the state of South Carolina.
There were roughly 28 music students who graduated with this degree at Furman in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the medium-sized city of Knoxville, UT Knoxville is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 41 colleges for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were roughly 86 music students who graduated with this degree at UT Knoxville in the most recent data year. Those music students who get their degree from The University of Tennessee - Knoxville receive $3,474 more than the standard music student.
Located in the large city of Orlando, Valencia College is a public college with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #130 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Valencia College is a great college overall.
There were about 36 music students who graduated with this degree at Valencia College in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the music program earn about $22,985 for their early career.
GMU is a very large public university located in the large suburb of Fairfax. A Best Colleges rank of #92 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means GMU is a great university overall.
There were about 70 music students who graduated with this degree at GMU in the most recent data year. Those music students who get their degree from George Mason University make $5,151 more than the standard music student.
Rest of the Top Best Music Schools in the Southeast Region
Additional Noteworthy Schools
Here are some additional great schools for Music students in the Southeast Region that almost earned our Best Music Schools in the Southeast Region award.
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).
Your choice of music school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for music schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
