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Music Degree

240 schools compared · Average earnings $28,116/yr

Students study music theory, composition, performance, history, and ear training through intensive individual and ensemble practice alongside academic coursework. Graduates typically pursue careers as performers, music educators, composers, recording engineers, music therapists, and arts administrators for orchestras, schools, and music organizations. Music graduates develop discipline, collaboration, and creative skills that are transferable across many careers.

What Music Graduates Do

Your music degree opens doors to careers in education, performance, and production. As a secondary school teacher, your work is centered on pedagogy; you’ll spend your days running choir rehearsals, grading student performances, and communicating with parents. On the performance and creation path, you’ll likely start by building a portfolio. This could mean gigging with a band at local venues, playing weddings, or composing scores for student films. Over time, this freelance hustle can lead to more stable work, like a chair in an orchestra or a role as a music director for a theater company.

While some roles like postsecondary teaching are growing slightly, others like K-12 teaching and sound engineering face headwinds. Artificial intelligence is also a significant factor. For composers, AI is fundamentally reshaping the field by automating orchestration and score generation, placing a premium on your high-level creative direction. Across most music careers, AI will handle routine tasks, changing what you do day-to-day. The most resilient path is teaching, where the core work of mentoring and inspiring students remains a uniquely human skill.

Schools Offering

240

Avg Grad Earnings

$28,116/yr

Avg DegreeOutlook Score

30/100

AI Automation Risk

High

49% task exposure

Common Career Paths

Where Music graduates typically work, ranked by salary. Salary ranges show 25th–75th percentile spread. This field has roughly 101,600 combined openings per year.

Career Path	Salary Range	Openings/yr	Growth	AI Risk
Art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary	$80,190 $61K$122K	9,000	+1.7%	44%
Sound engineering technicians	$66,430 $48K$100K	1,200	-1.7%	43%
Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education	$64,580 $58K$83K	66,200	-1.6%	33%
Music directors and composers	$63,670 $47K$97K	4,300	-0.3%	71%
Musicians and singers	N/A	19,400	+1.1%	41%
Disc jockeys, except radio	N/A	1,500	+3.8%	53%

Art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary

$80,190

$61K $122K

9,000 openings/yr +1.7% growth 44% AI risk

Sound engineering technicians

$66,430

$48K $100K

1,200 openings/yr -1.7% growth 43% AI risk

Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education

$64,580

$58K $83K

66,200 openings/yr -1.6% growth 33% AI risk

Music directors and composers

$63,670

$47K $97K

4,300 openings/yr -0.3% growth 71% AI risk

Musicians and singers

N/A

19,400 openings/yr +1.1% growth 41% AI risk

Disc jockeys, except radio

N/A

1,500 openings/yr +3.8% growth 53% AI risk

Source: BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics, May 2024. Salary range shows 25th–median–75th percentile (national).

Best Schools for Music

Top 20 of 240 schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score. Click any row for full AI scenario analysis and earnings projections.

#	School	DW Score	Earnings	ROI
1	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX	57 47–57	$56,373/yr	14.2x
2	Texas A & M University-Kingsville Kingsville, TX	57 47–57	$56,072/yr	14.3x
3	University of Houston Houston, TX	55 45–56	$52,799/yr	14.1x
4	The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX	53 42–54	$47,010/yr	14.5x
5	Stephen F Austin State University Nacogdoches, TX	52 41–52	$47,318/yr	12.5x
6	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX	51 42–51	$59,926/yr	11.9x
7	The University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, TX	51 41–51	$56,062/yr	13.4x
8	West Texas A & M University Canyon, TX	51 41–52	$50,881/yr	13.1x
9	Lamar University Beaumont, TX	50 39–51	$42,328/yr	14.5x
10	Texas A & M University-Commerce Commerce, TX	49 39–49	$52,282/yr	11.2x
11	University of Nevada-Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV	49 38–49	$47,151/yr	12.4x
12	Texas State University San Marcos, TX	48 38–49	$51,158/yr	10.1x
13	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX	48 37–48	$49,906/yr	9.9x
14	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	48 37–49	$42,548/yr	12.9x
15	Texas Woman's University Denton, TX	46 34–46	$44,058/yr	11.7x
16	University of Central Arkansas Conway, AR	46 34–46	$36,465/yr	12.4x
17	Tennessee Technological University Cookeville, TN	45 33–45	$44,635/yr	10.1x
18	University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Eau Claire, WI	45 33–45	$43,764/yr	11.3x
19	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	45 33–45	$39,564/yr	10.3x
20	Montana State University Bozeman, MT	45 33–45	$38,807/yr	13.4x
21	University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC	44 32–45	$38,831/yr	12.5x
22	University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR	43 31–43	$38,811/yr	11.0x
23	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO	43 31–43	$38,277/yr	9.3x
24	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX	43 32–44	$37,020/yr	10.4x
25	Ohio University-Eastern Campus Saint Clairsville, OH	43 31–43	$36,252/yr	15.6x
26	Ohio University-Chillicothe Campus Chillicothe, OH	43 31–43	$36,252/yr	15.6x
27	Ohio University-Southern Campus Ironton, OH	43 31–43	$36,252/yr	15.6x
28	Ohio University-Lancaster Campus Lancaster, OH	43 31–43	$36,252/yr	15.6x
29	Ohio University-Zanesville Campus Zanesville, OH	43 31–43	$36,252/yr	15.6x
30	Western Carolina University Cullowhee, NC	43 35–43	$26,135/yr	26.0x
31	Indiana State University Terre Haute, IN	42 30–43	$41,038/yr	10.3x
32	Austin Peay State University Clarksville, TN	42 30–43	$39,008/yr	10.2x
33	University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA	42 31–43	$35,311/yr	8.0x
34	Southeastern Louisiana University Hammond, LA	41 30–42	$41,404/yr	10.9x
35	University of Mississippi University, MS	41 29–41	$38,029/yr	9.1x
36	Rowan University Glassboro, NJ	41 30–41	$32,781/yr	8.4x
37	University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC	40 29–41	$38,657/yr	8.6x
38	Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL	40 29–41	$37,163/yr	8.5x
39	McNeese State University Lake Charles, LA	40 29–41	$36,305/yr	9.7x
40	Rhode Island College Providence, RI	40 29–40	$34,549/yr	10.2x
41	University of North Texas Denton, TX	40 30–40	$31,450/yr	10.7x
42	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Whitewater, WI	40 30–40	$31,134/yr	13.2x
43	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL	40 34–40	$21,957/yr	19.3x
44	Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock, PA	39 28–40	$37,660/yr	8.0x
45	The University of Texas at Tyler Tyler, TX	39 28–40	$37,104/yr	8.4x
46	Murray State University Murray, KY	39 28–40	$34,098/yr	10.9x
47	Radford University Radford, VA	37 26–38	$39,593/yr	7.5x
48	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	37 25–37	$36,106/yr	7.4x
49	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO	37 25–37	$35,939/yr	5.4x
50	Jacksonville State University Jacksonville, AL	37 27–38	$32,893/yr	8.8x
51	University of Central Missouri Warrensburg, MO	37 27–37	$30,321/yr	10.9x
52	Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN	37 29–37	$27,586/yr	11.8x
53	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	36 24–37	$39,121/yr	7.6x
54	Rutgers University-Newark Newark, NJ	36 24–36	$36,707/yr	6.0x
55	Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY	36 25–37	$34,766/yr	8.6x
56	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	36 25–36	$34,611/yr	7.5x
57	Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL	36 25–36	$34,079/yr	5.6x
58	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	36 26–37	$32,880/yr	10.5x
59	Georgia State University Atlanta, GA	36 29–37	$25,108/yr	13.1x
60	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	36 30–36	$22,625/yr	16.3x
61	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA	36 31–36	$20,887/yr	15.3x
62	Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL	35 24–36	$42,830/yr	5.2x
63	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	35 23–35	$38,656/yr	5.4x
64	Rutgers University-Camden Camden, NJ	35 24–36	$36,707/yr	5.8x
65	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	35 24–36	$36,707/yr	5.7x
66	University of Missouri-St Louis Saint Louis, MO	35 23–35	$35,835/yr	6.8x
67	Grand Valley State University Allendale, MI	35 24–35	$34,882/yr	6.7x
68	Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY	35 24–36	$34,428/yr	8.6x
69	Cleveland State University Cleveland, OH	35 24–35	$32,887/yr	5.5x
70	University of Memphis Memphis, TN	35 26–35	$27,353/yr	10.3x
71	Florida International University Miami, FL	35 28–35	$25,484/yr	14.6x
72	Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi Corpus Christi, TX	35 29–35	$22,833/yr	11.9x
73	Ohio University-Main Campus Athens, OH	34 23–35	$36,252/yr	6.4x
74	University of North Alabama Florence, AL	34 23–35	$35,599/yr	7.2x
75	Grace Christian University Wyoming, MI	34 24–35	$33,256/yr	4.5x
76	Indiana University of Pennsylvania-Main Campus Indiana, PA	34 24–35	$33,070/yr	8.2x
77	Wayne State University Detroit, MI	34 24–35	$32,911/yr	7.1x
78	Western Illinois University Macomb, IL	34 23–34	$32,666/yr	6.8x
79	University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA	34 23–34	$32,175/yr	9.0x
80	California State University-Monterey Bay Seaside, CA	34 25–34	$28,009/yr	8.4x
81	Lebanon Valley College Annville, PA	33 22–33	$49,383/yr	1.1x
82	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY	33 22–33	$33,384/yr	9.0x
83	Illinois State University Normal, IL	33 22–33	$32,853/yr	6.0x
84	University of Minnesota-Duluth Duluth, MN	33 23–34	$31,780/yr	4.5x
85	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH	33 23–33	$30,716/yr	5.5x
86	California State University-San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA	33 25–33	$27,724/yr	8.0x
87	SUNY College at Potsdam Potsdam, NY	33 27–34	$23,902/yr	11.9x
88	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	33 27–33	$22,559/yr	14.8x
89	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	33 29–34	$19,429/yr	17.4x
90	Luther College Decorah, IA	32 20–32	$45,367/yr	1.4x
91	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	32 22–32	$31,621/yr	9.3x
92	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT	32 22–32	$31,336/yr	5.6x
93	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT	32 22–32	$31,336/yr	5.6x
94	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT	32 22–32	$31,336/yr	5.6x
95	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Hartford, CT	32 22–32	$31,336/yr	5.6x
96	Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, KY	32 22–32	$30,106/yr	8.5x
97	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR	32 23–32	$29,630/yr	4.5x
98	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR	32 23–33	$29,630/yr	4.9x
99	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	32 25–33	$25,803/yr	7.0x
100	California State University-Chico Chico, CA	32 24–32	$25,339/yr	11.3x
101	Utah Valley University Orem, UT	32 25–32	$24,952/yr	8.9x
102	University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH	31 20–32	$36,293/yr	4.3x
103	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN	31 21–31	$31,888/yr	6.2x
104	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	31 21–31	$31,336/yr	4.7x
105	Morehead State University Morehead, KY	31 21–32	$31,088/yr	8.1x
106	University of Idaho Moscow, ID	31 22–32	$30,191/yr	8.9x
107	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO	31 21–31	$29,483/yr	8.1x
108	Montclair State University Montclair, NJ	31 23–32	$27,977/yr	7.0x
109	West Virginia University Morgantown, WV	31 23–31	$26,011/yr	9.6x
110	University of North Florida Jacksonville, FL	31 25–32	$24,405/yr	8.5x
111	University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC	31 28–31	$15,670/yr	13.7x
112	Vermont State University Randolph, VT	30 21–30	$27,719/yr	7.7x
113	University of South Alabama Mobile, AL	30 21–30	$27,050/yr	8.6x
114	University of Northern Colorado Greeley, CO	30 22–31	$26,944/yr	4.6x
115	Millersville University of Pennsylvania Millersville, PA	30 22–30	$26,895/yr	4.5x
116	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI	30 22–30	$26,875/yr	8.9x
117	Kent State University at Stark North Canton, OH	30 24–31	$24,340/yr	7.4x
118	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	30 25–31	$22,125/yr	8.2x
119	CUNY City College New York, NY	30 26–30	$19,145/yr	12.9x
120	Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music San Juan, PR	30 28–30	$5,005/yr	23.8x
121	Emory University Atlanta, GA	29 19–30	$33,430/yr	0.4x
122	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	29 18–29	$32,924/yr	0.2x
123	University of Tulsa Tulsa, OK	29 18–29	$32,253/yr	0.7x
124	University of Saint Francis-Fort Wayne Fort Wayne, IN	29 19–29	$31,373/yr	1.2x
125	The Master's University and Seminary Santa Clarita, CA	29 19–29	$31,340/yr	1.1x
126	Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA	29 20–29	$28,989/yr	5.4x
127	William Paterson University of New Jersey Wayne, NJ	29 21–29	$26,621/yr	3.4x
128	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA	29 21–29	$25,391/yr	9.6x
129	Tennessee State University Nashville, TN	29 23–29	$23,868/yr	6.0x
130	Northwestern State University of Louisiana Natchitoches, LA	29 22–29	$23,529/yr	5.6x
131	Appalachian State University Boone, NC	29 23–29	$23,304/yr	6.7x
132	Northwest University Kirkland, WA	28 19–29	$31,179/yr	1.2x
133	East Tennessee State University Johnson City, TN	28 18–28	$30,004/yr	5.1x
134	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA	28 21–29	$25,532/yr	8.7x
135	Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI	28 21–28	$24,911/yr	6.7x
136	Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH	28 21–28	$24,340/yr	3.7x
137	California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	28 23–28	$21,509/yr	6.9x
138	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH	27 20–28	$26,084/yr	6.5x
139	Utah State University Logan, UT	27 21–28	$22,983/yr	9.1x
140	Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ	27 21–27	$21,623/yr	-0.1x
141	Texas A & M International University Laredo, TX	27 22–27	$20,788/yr	5.6x
142	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA	27 23–27	$18,226/yr	11.4x
143	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	26 14–26	$34,823/yr	0.8x
144	Capital University Columbus, OH	26 15–26	$33,143/yr	1.7x
145	Bradley University Peoria, IL	26 18–26	$28,137/yr	0.8x
146	Visible Music College Memphis, TN	26 19–26	$25,929/yr	1.9x
147	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	26 19–26	$24,630/yr	5.7x
148	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA	26 19–26	$23,969/yr	8.3x
149	Western Connecticut State University Danbury, CT	26 20–26	$21,659/yr	3.2x
150	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	26 20–26	$21,592/yr	6.2x
151	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	26 21–26	$20,440/yr	9.3x
152	University of Louisville Louisville, KY	26 21–26	$20,125/yr	7.6x
153	Towson University Towson, MD	26 21–26	$19,618/yr	8.2x
154	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	26 22–26	$18,352/yr	5.5x
155	Liberty University Lynchburg, VA	25 17–25	$28,003/yr	3.3x
156	Gettysburg College Gettysburg, PA	25 17–26	$27,556/yr	0.1x
157	Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI	25 18–25	$24,775/yr	4.8x
158	University of Maryland-Baltimore County Baltimore, MD	25 18–25	$23,991/yr	5.9x
159	Ramapo College of New Jersey Mahwah, NJ	25 19–25	$23,127/yr	5.4x
160	SUNY at Fredonia Fredonia, NY	25 19–25	$21,524/yr	8.2x
161	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	25 21–25	$18,574/yr	-0.3x
162	State University of New York at Cortland Cortland, NY	25 21–25	$18,380/yr	4.2x
163	Inter American University of Puerto Rico-Metro San Juan, PR	25 22–25	$15,884/yr	6.1x
164	Western Washington University Bellingham, WA	25 22–25	$15,834/yr	9.6x
165	Winthrop University Rock Hill, SC	24 17–25	$25,952/yr	4.0x
166	Los Angeles College of Music Pasadena, CA	24 17–24	$24,059/yr	1.3x
167	University of Missouri-Kansas City Kansas City, MO	24 18–24	$22,315/yr	6.2x
168	University of Nebraska at Omaha Omaha, NE	24 19–24	$20,881/yr	7.8x
169	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA	24 19–24	$20,408/yr	2.6x
170	Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO	24 20–25	$19,797/yr	7.8x
171	University of Central Oklahoma Edmond, OK	24 20–24	$19,162/yr	8.5x
172	State University of New York at New Paltz New Paltz, NY	24 21–25	$17,406/yr	4.1x
173	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	24 21–25	$16,479/yr	-0.3x
174	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN	24 21–24	$15,911/yr	8.0x
175	Full Sail University Winter Park, FL	23 16–23	$25,005/yr	2.8x
176	Coe College Cedar Rapids, IA	23 17–23	$24,233/yr	0.2x
177	Bowling Green State University-Main Campus Bowling Green, OH	23 18–23	$20,632/yr	5.7x
178	Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Kutztown, PA	23 20–24	$17,725/yr	2.9x
179	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	22 16–22	$22,272/yr	3.6x
180	Albright College Reading, PA	22 17–22	$21,285/yr	0.8x
181	Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH	22 18–22	$19,353/yr	1.7x
182	SUNY at Purchase College Purchase, NY	22 19–23	$17,887/yr	7.7x
183	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	22 19–23	$17,293/yr	6.2x
184	Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA	21 13–22	$27,854/yr	1.1x
185	Wheaton College Wheaton, IL	21 13–21	$26,540/yr	1.4x
186	The College of Saint Rose Albany, NY	21 14–21	$26,060/yr	1.7x
187	Carthage College Kenosha, WI	21 15–22	$24,273/yr	2.1x
188	Jacksonville University Jacksonville, FL	21 16–22	$21,219/yr	0.1x
189	California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA	21 16–21	$20,650/yr	0.0x
190	Biola University La Mirada, CA	21 16–21	$19,978/yr	0.1x
191	New Jersey City University Jersey City, NJ	21 17–21	$18,544/yr	5.0x
192	University of Kentucky Lexington, KY	21 18–22	$17,040/yr	5.9x
193	University of Georgia Athens, GA	21 19–22	$15,289/yr	2.4x
194	University of Louisiana at Lafayette Lafayette, LA	21 18–21	$13,479/yr	2.2x
195	San Francisco Conservatory of Music San Francisco, CA	20 12–20	$26,916/yr	0.3x
196	Five Towns College Dix Hills, NY	20 13–20	$25,315/yr	1.7x
197	St Olaf College Northfield, MN	20 13–20	$24,732/yr	1.2x
198	Monmouth University West Long Branch, NJ	20 13–20	$24,563/yr	1.5x
199	Northeastern University Boston, MA	20 14–20	$21,978/yr	1.4x
200	Millikin University Decatur, IL	20 15–20	$21,138/yr	2.6x
201	Lipscomb University Nashville, TN	20 16–21	$19,352/yr	0.2x
202	Oral Roberts University Tulsa, OK	20 16–21	$19,126/yr	0.4x
203	University of Puget Sound Tacoma, WA	19 12–19	$25,551/yr	0.5x
204	Whitworth University Spokane, WA	19 12–19	$25,027/yr	0.4x
205	The Catholic University of America Washington, DC	19 12–19	$23,856/yr	1.1x
206	Catawba College Salisbury, NC	19 13–20	$23,577/yr	1.7x
207	Ithaca College Ithaca, NY	19 13–19	$23,119/yr	1.4x
208	Temple University Philadelphia, PA	19 14–19	$19,507/yr	2.7x
209	Portland State University Portland, OR	19 15–19	$17,638/yr	3.5x
210	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ	19 16–20	$15,721/yr	4.6x
211	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	19 17–20	$14,166/yr	1.4x
212	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Cincinnati, OH	19 17–19	$12,875/yr	4.9x
213	University of Hartford West Hartford, CT	18 12–19	$24,511/yr	0.6x
214	New York University New York, NY	18 12–19	$24,398/yr	0.4x
215	Belmont University Nashville, TN	18 12–19	$24,016/yr	0.8x
216	Boston University Boston, MA	18 12–18	$23,934/yr	0.6x
217	University of Denver Denver, CO	18 12–18	$23,262/yr	1.0x
218	University of New Haven West Haven, CT	18 12–18	$22,171/yr	1.2x
219	Elmhurst University Elmhurst, IL	18 12–18	$21,759/yr	1.3x
220	Rider University Lawrenceville, NJ	18 13–18	$20,727/yr	1.6x
221	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	18 16–19	$13,128/yr	4.0x
222	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	18 16–19	$12,947/yr	-0.1x
223	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	17 11–18	$23,159/yr	0.4x
224	Columbia College Chicago Chicago, IL	17 12–17	$19,943/yr	1.5x
225	Rollins College Winter Park, FL	16 11–16	$20,745/yr	0.6x
226	University of the Arts Philadelphia, PA	16 11–16	$20,543/yr	0.4x
227	DePaul University Chicago, IL	16 12–16	$19,155/yr	1.3x
228	Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City, OK	16 12–16	$18,784/yr	1.5x
229	Hofstra University Hempstead, NY	16 13–17	$15,592/yr	1.5x
230	California Institute of the Arts Valencia, CA	15 11–15	$18,896/yr	0.4x
231	Cornish College of the Arts Seattle, WA	15 11–15	$18,453/yr	0.6x
232	Berklee College of Music Boston, MA	15 11–15	$18,177/yr	0.7x
233	Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA	15 11–15	$17,711/yr	1.0x
234	Oberlin College Oberlin, OH	14 11–15	$17,141/yr	0.3x
235	Stetson University DeLand, FL	14 11–14	$15,905/yr	0.3x
236	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	14 11–14	$15,492/yr	0.7x
237	Chapman University Orange, CA	14 11–14	$14,538/yr	0.8x
238	University of Rochester Rochester, NY	13 11–14	$14,310/yr	0.3x
239	The New School New York, NY	13 11–13	$12,109/yr	0.1x
240	Baylor University Waco, TX	13 11–13	$10,210/yr	0.7x

Highest Earning Music Programs

Schools where Music graduates earn the most in their first year after graduation.

School	1-Year Earnings	DW Score
Sam Houston State University	$59,926/yr	51
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley	$56,373/yr	57
Texas A & M University-Kingsville	$56,072/yr	57
The University of Texas at El Paso	$56,062/yr	51
University of Houston	$52,799/yr	55
Texas A & M University-Commerce	$52,282/yr	49
Texas State University	$51,158/yr	48
West Texas A & M University	$50,881/yr	51
Texas Tech University	$49,906/yr	48
Lebanon Valley College	$49,383/yr	33

Best ROI for Music

Schools with the highest earnings-to-tuition ratio for Music.

School	ROI Multiple	Earnings	DW Score
Western Carolina University	26.0x	$26,135/yr	43
Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music	23.8x	$5,005/yr	30
University of Central Florida	19.3x	$21,957/yr	40
Florida State University	17.4x	$19,429/yr	33
Brigham Young University	16.3x	$22,625/yr	36
Ohio University-Eastern Campus	15.6x	$36,252/yr	43
Ohio University-Chillicothe Campus	15.6x	$36,252/yr	43
Ohio University-Southern Campus	15.6x	$36,252/yr	43
Ohio University-Lancaster Campus	15.6x	$36,252/yr	43
Ohio University-Zanesville Campus	15.6x	$36,252/yr	43

Want to compare two Music programs side by side? Use the comparison tool →

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Consider the Trade Route

Not sure a 4-year degree is the right path? Trade programs in Music offer shorter timelines, lower debt, and strong AI resilience for hands-on careers.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do Music graduates earn?

Across 240 schools, Music graduates earn an average of $28,116 per year in their first year after graduation. Earnings range from $5,005 to $59,926 depending on the school.

What is the AI automation risk for Music?

Music is rated "High" for AI automation risk, with an average of 49% of job tasks exposed to large language models and AI tools. This means some career tasks in this field could be augmented or replaced by AI over the next decade.

Which school has the best Music program?

Based on our DegreeOutlook Score (combining earnings, AI resilience, job market size, and ROI), The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley ranks #1 for Music with a score of 57/100 and graduate earnings of $56,373/yr.

What's the outlook for a Music degree?

On average, Music graduates earn 6.4x their in-state tuition over 10 years. This is a moderate return — school choice matters significantly.

Scores use College Scorecard earnings, BLS employment projections, and AI task-exposure research. See full methodology →