Program ranking · CIP 50.09 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Music

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Music (CIP 50.09) bachelor's completers. Rankings use earnings only - not prestige, selectivity, or editorial judgment - and require at least 25 completers so tiny suppressed cohorts do not dominate the list.

Compiled by PlainCollege , College outcomes data analysis

$65,533
Highest music earnings: 100
Colleges ranked: $40,713
#100 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $40,713 median earnings for Music bachelor's (CIP 50.09) completers. Sonoma State University leads at $65,533.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

$65,533
#1 - Sonoma State University: $40,713
#100 - the cutoff to make this list: 25+
completers required per school: 1,063
US schools offering this CIP

Earnings are field-of-study medians for federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled; see methodology for horizon and lag details.

Sonoma State University

$65,533
University of Florida

$61,446
Northeastern University

$60,974
The University of Texas at

$60,172
University of Redlands

$59,275
The University of Texas …

$59,218
Vanderbilt University

$59,217
The University of Texas at

$59,198
Sam Houston State Univer…

$58,743
University of North Caro…

$58,127
University of California…

$58,071
Texas A&M University-Kin…

$57,117
Texas Tech University

$57,043
University of Houston

$56,667
University of Connecticut

$56,104

What this shows Music medians mix teaching, performance, and industry roles - debt still matters when arts-market pay varies sharply by metro.

The full top 100

#	School Name	State	Median Earnings	Median Debt	Completers
1	Sonoma State University	CA	$65,533	-	33
2	University of Florida	FL	$61,446	-	46
3	Northeastern University	MA	$60,974	$25,500	40
4	The University of Texas at El Paso	TX	$60,172	$14,894	29
5	University of Redlands	CA	$59,275	$27,000	26
6	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley	TX	$59,218	$15,175	48
7	Vanderbilt University	TN	$59,217	$21,500	44
8	The University of Texas at Arlington	TX	$59,198	$22,714	67
9	Sam Houston State University	TX	$58,743	$25,630	48
10	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	$58,127	$18,007	40
11	University of California-San Diego	CA	$58,071	$19,500	26
12	Texas A&M University-Kingsville	TX	$57,117	$31,000	32
13	Texas Tech University	TX	$57,043	$27,000	59
14	University of Houston	TX	$56,667	$25,000	77
15	University of Connecticut	CT	$56,104	$24,148	35
16	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	$56,008	$25,492	44
17	University of North Texas	TX	$55,705	$23,425	227
18	Monmouth University	NJ	$55,526	$24,625	26
19	East Texas A&M University	TX	$55,438	$24,728	48
20	University of Nevada-Las Vegas	NV	$55,161	$30,500	38
21	Illinois State University	IL	$54,767	$20,500	33
22	Lebanon Valley College	PA	$54,235	$26,846	28
23	The University of Texas at San Antonio	TX	$53,878	$23,703	44
24	Northwestern University	IL	$53,875	$18,039	86
25	University of Massachusetts-Lowell	MA	$53,384	$27,000	47
26	New York University	NY	$52,841	$25,000	87
27	Stephen F Austin State University	TX	$52,341	$26,000	76
28	Texas State University	TX	$52,320	$23,250	92
29	Furman University	SC	$52,225	$20,500	28
30	Michigan State University	MI	$52,132	$26,750	56
31	James Madison University	VA	$51,882	$20,968	79
32	Ithaca College	NY	$51,338	$27,000	47
33	Ohio State University-Main Campus	OH	$51,310	$25,500	38
34	Central Washington University	WA	$51,008	$26,000	46
35	Luther College	IA	$50,947	$27,000	37
36	Florida International University	FL	$50,677	$12,722	39
37	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	$50,544	$24,148	56
38	Montclair State University	NJ	$50,418	$27,000	59
39	Wayne State University	MI	$50,340	$22,452	47
40	University of Iowa	IA	$50,180	$27,000	49
41	Indiana State University	IN	$49,711	$26,250	27
42	University of Utah	UT	$49,240	$15,500	45
43	Eastern Illinois University	IL	$49,236	$26,000	26
44	San Francisco Conservatory of Music	CA	$49,186	$27,000	46
45	University of Delaware	DE	$49,145	$25,334	30
46	Indiana University of Pennsylvania	PA	$48,630	$27,000	36
47	University of Denver	CO	$48,461	$23,559	31
48	West Virginia University	WV	$48,226	$23,975	48
49	California State University-Long Beach	CA	$47,831	$21,050	86
50	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	$47,779	$20,000	75
51	University of Maryland-College Park	MD	$47,654	$21,614	42
52	Jacksonville State University	AL	$47,582	$28,000	45
53	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College	LA	$47,521	$19,455	31
54	Rowan University	NJ	$47,208	$25,898	63
55	The University of Texas at Austin	TX	$47,164	$24,625	60
56	University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire	WI	$47,079	$25,557	50
57	George Mason University	VA	$46,765	$21,917	42
58	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN	$46,701	$23,331	40
59	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus	CO	$46,532	$23,499	98
60	University of Arkansas	AR	$46,352	$26,256	28
61	Duquesne University	PA	$46,217	$27,000	26
62	Rollins College	FL	$45,910	$27,000	32
63	SUNY at Fredonia	NY	$45,794	$25,584	38
64	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus	OK	$45,781	$22,779	37
65	University of Memphis	TN	$45,321	$20,545	46
66	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater	WI	$45,306	$25,000	36
67	University of South Carolina-Columbia	SC	$45,181	$27,000	53
68	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona	CA	$44,910	$17,750	36
69	DePaul University	IL	$44,756	$22,379	39
70	Ohio University-Main Campus	OH	$44,593	$26,750	42
71	Florida State University	FL	$44,454	$23,000	107
72	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	PA	$44,241	$26,438	31
73	CUNY City College	NY	$44,058	$21,637	44
74	Western Carolina University	NC	$44,014	$26,000	50
75	Middle Tennessee State University	TN	$43,999	$20,083	136
76	Northern Arizona University	AZ	$43,792	-	27
77	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	$43,777	$18,997	83
78	Rider University	NJ	$43,753	$27,000	45
79	University of Hartford	CT	$43,700	$27,000	58
80	Lawrence University	WI	$43,385	$18,988	57
81	Oberlin College	OH	$43,343	$25,500	140
82	Capital University	OH	$43,125	$27,000	28
83	Liberty University	VA	$42,960	$27,000	93
84	California State University-Sacramento	CA	$42,774	$19,241	49
85	University of Nebraska at Omaha	NE	$42,768	-	28
86	University of Missouri-Kansas City	MO	$42,708	$18,740	32
87	St Olaf College	MN	$42,439	$23,500	47
88	University of Central Oklahoma	OK	$42,355	$19,000	40
89	University of Maryland-Baltimore County	MD	$42,289	$26,250	25
90	California State University-Chico	CA	$42,269	$23,500	61
91	San Diego State University	CA	$42,090	$15,383	55
92	SUNY at Purchase College	NY	$41,926	$20,379	53
93	Chapman University	CA	$41,698	$27,000	35
94	Arizona State University Campus Immersion	AZ	$41,610	$21,504	42
95	Stetson University	FL	$41,298	$26,000	43
96	University of Arizona	AZ	$40,922	$14,650	34
97	University of North Carolina at Greensboro	NC	$40,778	$26,250	39
98	Morehead State University	KY	$40,768	$25,000	31
99	Columbia College Chicago	IL	$40,734	$25,625	46
100	Millersville University of Pennsylvania	PA	$40,713	$26,500	44

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Music (CIP 50.09) bachelor's completers. Only operating schools with at least 25 completers and a published median are included. Ties break toward larger completer cohorts. For the full program profile - including every reporting school and national distribution - see Music (bachelor's). Methodology lives on our methodology page.

Caveats and limitations

"Best" here means highest reported median earnings for the stated CIP scope - not teaching quality, licensure pass rates, clinical placement strength, or fit for any one student. This list covers Music (CIP 50.09) bachelor's programs - music performance and education pathways can sit in adjacent CIP codes ranked separately when demand warrants.

Figures cover federally aided completers only, use Treasury-linked earnings, and describe a lagged cohort. Regional pay scales and graduate-school paths both move the median without proving a causal school effect.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute academic or career advice. Earnings do not predict any individual graduate's outcome.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from College Scorecard field-of-study data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals.