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Most Popular Music Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Music Schools in California

35 Colleges
$23,084 Avg Salary
$22,049 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Music School for You

With 629 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, music is the #40 most popular major in California.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

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 in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 35 schools in California to see which programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Music program at each school on the list.

The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Music Colleges.

Our 2023 rankings named University of Southern California the most popular school in California for music students. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Full Music at University of Southern California Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Francisco Conservatory of Music. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Music Schools in California list. SFCM is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Francisco.

Read full report on Music at San Francisco Conservatory of Music

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Northridge. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Popular Music Schools in California list. CSUN is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Northridge.

Full Music at California State University - Northridge Report

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of California - Los Angeles is a great place for music students. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Music at University of California - Los Angeles

Out of the 35 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California Institute of the Arts landed the # 5 spot on the list. CalArts is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Valencia.

Read full report on Music at California Institute of the Arts

California State University - Los Angeles came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Music Schools in California ranking. Cal State LA is a very large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Read full report on Music at California State University - Los Angeles

California State University - Fullerton ranked #6 on this year’s Most Popular Music Schools in California list. Located in the suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

Azusa Pacific University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Music Schools in California ranking. Located in the suburb of Azusa, Azusa Pacific is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Full Music at Azusa Pacific University Report

#9

Academy of Art University

San Francisco, CA

Academy of Art University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Music Schools in California ranking. Academy of Art University is a medium-sized private for-profit school located in the large city of San Francisco.

Full Music at Academy of Art University Report

California State University - Long Beach came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Music Schools in California ranking. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

Best Music Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular Music Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 63
Oregon 74
Nevada 33
Hawaii 8
Alaska 0

One of 9 majors within the area of study, music has other similar majors worth exploring.

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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