2023 Most Popular Music Schools
Finding the Best Music School for You
Music is the #37 most popular major in the country with 7,675 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Most Popular Music Schools ranking. This report analyzed 331 schools in the United States to see which ones were the most popular programs for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Music program at each school on the list.
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2023 Most Popular Music Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the most popular for music majors pursuing a .
Top 25 Most Popular Schools in Music
Our analysis found Indiana University - Bloomington to be the most popular school for music students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Located in the small city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Out of the 331 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Cincinnati - Main Campus landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the city of Cincinnati, UC is a public college with a very large student population.
Out of the 331 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Manhattan School of Music landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of New York, Manhattan School of Music is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
The excellent programs at Michigan State University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best music schools in the United States. Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public college with a fairly large student population.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend New York University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Most Popular Music Schools list. NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
The New England Conservatory of Music did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for music students. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the city of Boston, The New England Conservatory of Music is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
With a ranking of #7, Yale University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for music students. Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New Haven.
The New School did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for music students. It came in at #8 on the list. New School University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
University of North Texas ranked #9 on this year’s Most Popular Music Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Denton, UNT is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The Juilliard School did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for music students. It came in at #10 on the list. Juilliard is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
Johns Hopkins University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular music programs. Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
University of Rochester ranked #12 on this year’s Most Popular Music Schools list. Located in the city of Rochester, University of Rochester is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
Berklee College of Music landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular music programs. Berklee College of Music is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Boston.
University of Southern California ranked #14 on this year’s Most Popular Music Schools list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
With a ranking of #15, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for music students. U-M is a very large public school located in the city of Ann Arbor.
Read full report on Music at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Arizona State University - Tempe came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Music Schools ranking. ASU - Tempe is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Tempe.
With a ranking of #17, University of Miami did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for music students. Located in the small city of Coral Gables, U Miami is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
Florida State University ranked #18 on this year’s Most Popular Music Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Tallahassee, Florida State is a public college with a fairly large student population.
San Francisco Conservatory of Music did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for music students. It came in at #18 on the list. Located in the large city of San Francisco, SFCM is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for music students. It came in at #20 on the list. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Champaign.
With a ranking of #21, The University of Texas at Austin did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for music students. UT Austin is a very large public school located in the city of Austin.
Bowling Green State University - Main Campus landed the #22 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular music programs. Located in the fringe town of Bowling Green, BGSU is a public college with a large student population.
Full Music at Bowling Green State University - Main Campus Report
Longy School of Music of Bard College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for music students. It came in at #23 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Longy is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Boston University ranked #24 on this year’s Most Popular Music Schools list. Boston U is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Boston.
Northwestern University ranked #24 on this year’s Most Popular Music Schools list. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
Rest of the Top Most Popular Music Schools
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also popular but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular Music Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 51 | University of Maryland - College Park | College Park, MD |
| 52 | University of Denver | Denver, CO |
| 52 | Ohio University - Athens Campus | Athens, OH |
| 52 | University of Kansas | Lawrence, KS |
| 55 | University of Wisconsin - Madison | Madison, WI |
| 55 | University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA |
| 57 | University of Oregon | Eugene, OR |
| 57 | University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA |
| 57 | University of Kentucky | Lexington, KY |
| 57 | Georgia State University | Atlanta, GA |
| 61 | University of Southern Mississippi | Hattiesburg, MS |
| 62 | Texas Christian University | Fort Worth, TX |
| 62 | Shenandoah University | Winchester, VA |
| 62 | Columbia University in the City of New York | New York, NY |
| 62 | Ohio State University - Main Campus | Columbus, OH |
| 66 | The Graduate Center, CUNY | New York, NY |
| 66 | University of South Carolina - Columbia | Columbia, SC |
| 66 | University of Memphis | Memphis, TN |
| 66 | University of Utah | Salt Lake City, UT |
Music by Region
View the Most Popular Music Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
Music Related Majors
Music is one of 9 different types of programs to choose from.
Most Popular Majors Related to Music
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Fine & Studio Arts | 3,224 |
| Design & Applied Arts | 1,979 |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 1,704 |
| Drama & Theater Arts | 1,699 |
| Arts & Media Management | 1,184 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- 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.
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