The List of All U.S. Colleges With a Music Major

Studying music allows one to engage with the subtle intersections of mathematics, theory, artistic expression, and material technique. If you’re thinking about pursuing your interest in music through your major, we’ve put together this post to offer some information on potential career paths as well as a comprehensive list of which schools may offer programs that fit your aspirations. For students interested in studying music in college, there are generally two paths: the music conservatory or the music major at a traditional higher-education institution. If you’re set on the pursuit of a path in performance or composition, then the more rigorous and specialized path of a conservatory is for you. However, for many students, the opportunity to couple music with other disciplines is enticing. In these cases, a more traditional institution has its merits. Music majors can double-major or pursue a minor to build up skills and experiences in two fields that complement each other. Popular subjects studied in conjunction with music include communications, psychology, business, and technology. Music programs themselves are usually well-balanced between scholarship and performance, emphasizing both practice and theory, as well as a good understanding of music history. In addition to the technical skills you gain in performance, composition, and music theory, you will come out of college with many transferable and in-demand skills, such as innovative thinking, communication and collaboration, and the ability to articulate meaning. Music majors often drawn upon their experiences and skills from their other courses when stepping into the job market. It’s useful to note that except for a few specialized, professional majors, it’s normal for a student’s eventual career to be unrelated to their undergraduate degree. That being said, music majors will find a plethora of related opportunities in the job market. Careers in music therapy, music education, and game design are directly related to undergraduate studies in music. One degree removed, careers in arts administration, app development, recording engineering, and music law also have high demand for music majors and are lucrative paths to take. Whether you’re planning on studying music or physics at college, a strong and dedicated application—with emphasis on a promising academic record—is just as important as your musical accomplishments. Colleges want to know that you will be able to excel not only in your program, but as a general student at their institution. Show your passion for music through you extracurriculars. Take music classes in high school; join a band or orchestra; participate in recitals or competitions. Start researching which schools have music programs, and begin narrowing down from there. Then you can put together your school list. Many students need help when putting together their college lists and then their applications. It’s a lot of work, and even more so if you need to tailor your profile to schools as a potential music student. can help you apply to your dream school no matter what point in high school you are at. If you’re still in your first two years of high school, our    Early Advising Program will help you build a strong extracurricular and academic base to prepare you for the college application process. We’ll guide you in choosing the right classes and extracurricular activities and how to draw on your strengths to optimize your profile in advance. If you’re a junior, our College Strategy Program will help you improve your admissions chances by strengthening your extracurricular profile, setting goals with you, developing a college list, and making school-specific adjustments to increase your chances at your dream schools. Estimating your chance of getting into a college is not easy in today’s competitive environment. Thankfully, with our state-of-the-art software and data, we can analyze your academic and extracurricular profile and estimate your chances. Our profile analysis tool can also help you identify the improvement you need to make to enter your dream school. Anderson University (South Carolina) Arkansas State University | A–State Austin Peay State University | APSU California State University, East Bay | CSU East Bay Bowling Green State University | BGSU C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University | LIU Post California Baptist University | CBU California Institute of the Arts | Cal Arts California Lutheran University | CLU California Polytechnic State University | Cal Poly California State Polytechnic University, Pomona | Cal Poly Pomona California State University Channel Islands | CSU Channel Islands California State University San Marcos | CSUSM California State University, Bakersfield | CSU Bakersfield California State University, Chico | CSU Chico California State University, Dominguez Hills | CSUDH California State University, Fresno | CSU Fresno California State University, Fullerton | CSU Fullerton California State University, Long Beach | Long Beach State California State University, Los Angeles | Cal State LA California State University, Monterey Bay | CSUMB California State University, Northridge | CSUN California State University, Sacramento | Sacramento State California State University, San Bernardino | CSUSB California State University, Stanislaus | Stanislaus State Catholic University of America | CUA Central Christian College of Kansas Central Connecticut State University | CCSU Central Washington University | CWU Delaware State University | Del State Charleston Southern University | CSU Christopher Newport University | CNU Eastern Washington University | EWU Coastal Carolina University | Coastal College of Staten Island | CUNY CSI College of the Holy Cross | Holy Cross College of William & Mary | William & Mary Colorado Christian University | CCU Colorado State University–Pueblo | CSU Pueblo Columbia International University | CIU Concordia University Wisconsin | CUW Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MIT East Texas Baptist University | ETBU Eastern Connecticut State University | ECSU Eastern New Mexico University | ENMU North Carolina Central University | NCCU Elizabeth City State University | ECSU North Dakota State University | NDSU Fayetteville State University | FSU Florida Gulf Coast University | FGCU Florida International University | FIU Fort Valley State University | FVSU Franciscan University of Steubenville Franklin and Marshall College | F&M Georgia Institute of Technology | Georgia Tech Georgia Southwestern State University | GSW Northwest Missouri State University Grand Valley State University | GVSU Hannibal–LaGrange University | HLGU Hobart and William Smith Colleges | HWS Pennsylvania State University | PSU Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis | IUPUI Indiana University Bloomington | Indiana Indiana University of Pennsylvania | IUP Indiana University South Bend | IU South Bend Indiana University Southeast | IU Southeast Jacksonville State University | JSU Kutztown University of Pennsylvania | KU Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania | LHU Los Angeles College of Music | LACM Louisiana Tech University | La. Tech Mansfield University of Pennsylvania State University of New York at Potsdam | SUNY Potsdam Stephen F. Austin State University | SFA Metropolitan State University of Denver | MSU Denver MidAmerica Nazarene University | MNU Middle Tennessee State University | MTSU Millersville University of Pennsylvania | MU Tennessee Technological University | Tennessee Tech Minnesota State University Moorhead | MSUM Minnesota State University, Mankato | MNSU Mississippi University for Women | MUW Mississippi Valley State University | MVSU Montana State University Billings | MSU Billings University of California, Berkeley | UC Berkeley University of California, Davis | UC Davis Mount Vernon Nazarene University | MVNU University of California, Irvine | UC Irvine New Mexico Highlands University | NMHU New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology | New Mexico Tech New York City College of Technology | CUNY City Tech North Carolina A&T State University | N.C. A&T University of California, San Diego | UCSD North Carolina State University | NC State Northeastern Illinois University | NEIU Northeastern State University | NSU Northwest Christian University | NCU Northwest Florida State College | NWFSC University of Massachusetts Dartmouth | UMass Dartmouth Northwest Nazarene University | NNU Northwestern Oklahoma State University | NWOSU Oklahoma Panhandle State University | OPSU Oklahoma Wesleyan University | OKWU Oregon Institute of Technology | Oregon Tech Our Lady of the Lake University | OLLU Palm Beach Atlantic University | PBA Point Loma Nazarene University | PLNU Prairie View A&M University | PVAMU Queens College, City University of New York | CUNY QC Ramapo College of New Jersey | RCNJ Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | RPI University of Wisconsin–River Falls | UW–River Falls Rutgers University–New Brunswick | Rutgers Saginaw Valley State University | SVSU Saint Martin’s University | St. Martin’s Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College | SMWC Saint Mary’s College of California | St. Mary’s Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota | SMU Sam Houston State University | SHSU San Francisco State University | SF State School of the Art Institute of Chicago | SAIC Sewanee: The University of the South | Sewanee Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania | SRU South Carolina State University | SCSU Southeast Missouri State University | SEMO Southeastern Oklahoma State University | SOSU Southern Connecticut State University | SCSU Southern Illinois University Carbondale | SIU Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | SIUE Southern Methodist University | SMU Southern New Hampshire University | SNHU Southern University and A&M College | SUBR Southwest Minnesota State University | SMSU Southwestern Assemblies of God University | SAGU Southwestern Christian College | SwCC Southwestern Oklahoma State University | SWOSU St. John’s College | SJC (New Mexico) State University of New York at Fredonia | SUNY Fredonia State University of New York at New Paltz | SUNY New Paltz State University of New York at Oneonta | SUNY Oneonta State University of New York at Oswego | SUNY Oswego State University of New York at Plattsburgh | SUNY Plattsburgh Brigham Young University–Idaho | BYU–Idaho State University of New York at Purchase | SUNY Purchase California University of Pennsylvania | Cal U Tennessee Wesleyan University | TWU Texas A&M International University | TAMIU Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi The State University of New York at Binghamton | SUNY Binghamton The State University of New York at Buffalo | SUNY Buffalo The State University of New York at Geneseo | SUNY Geneseo The State University of New York at Stony Brook | SUNY Stony Brook Trinity International University | TIU University of Alabama at Birmingham | UAB University of Alaska Anchorage | UAA University of Alaska Fairbanks | UAF University of Arkansas at Little Rock | UA Little Rock University of Arkansas at Monticello | UAM University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff | UAPB University of Arkansas–Fort Smith | UAFS University of California, Los Angeles | UCLA University of California, Riverside | UC Riverside University of California, Santa Barbara | UCSB University of California, Santa Cruz | UCSC University of Central Arkansas | UCA University of Central Florida | UCF University of Central Missouri | UCM University of Central Oklahoma | UCO University of Colorado Boulder | CU Boulder University of Colorado Denver | CU Denver University of Hawaii at Manoa | UH Manoa University of Illinois at Chicago | UIC University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign | UIUC University of Louisiana at Lafayette | UL Lafayette University of Louisiana at Monroe | ULM University of Maine at Augusta | UMA University of Maine at Farmington | UMF University of Mary Hardin–Baylor | UMHB University of Mary Washington | UMW University of Maryland Eastern Shore | UMES University of Maryland, Baltimore County | UMBC University of Maryland, College Park | Maryland University of Massachusetts Amherst | UMass Amherst University of Massachusetts Boston | UMass Boston University of Massachusetts Lowell | UMass Lowell University of Michigan–Flint | UofM-Flint University of Minnesota Duluth | UMD University of Minnesota, Twin Cities | Minnesota University of Mississippi | Ole Miss University of Missouri–Kansas City | UMKC University of Missouri–St. Louis | UMSL University of Montana Western | UMW University of Nebraska at Kearney | UNK University of Nebraska–Lincoln | UNL University of Nevada, Las Vegas | UNLV University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | UNC University of North Carolina at Charlotte | UNC Charlotte University of North Carolina at Greensboro | UNC Greensboro University of North Carolina at Pembroke | UNC Pembroke University of North Carolina at Wilmington | UNC Wilmington University of North Carolina School of the Arts | UNCSA University of Northwestern – St. Paul The State University of New York at Albany | SUNY Albany University of South Alabama | South University of South Carolina Aiken | USC Aiken University of South Carolina Upstate | USC Upstate University of Southern California | USC University of Southern Mississippi | Southern Miss University of Tennessee at Chattanooga | UTC University of Tennessee at Martin | UTM University of Texas at Arlington | UT Arlington University of Texas at Austin | UT Austin University of Texas at El Paso | UTEP University of Texas at San Antonio | UTSA University of Texas at Tyler | UT Tyler University of Texas of the Permian Basin | UT Permian Basin University of the District of Columbia | UDC University of the Incarnate Word | UIW University of Wisconsin-Madison | Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Green Bay | UW–Green Bay University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee | UWM University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh | UW Oshkosh University of Wisconsin–Platteville | UW–Platteville University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point | UW–Stevens Point University of Wisconsin–Superior | UW–Superior University of Wisconsin–Whitewater | UW–Whitewater Virginia Commonwealth University | VCU Washington and Jefferson College | W&J Washington University in St. Louis | WashU Western Connecticut State University | WCSU Western Washington University | WWU William Paterson University | WPUNJ Winston-Salem State University | WSSU University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) York College, City University of New York | CUNY York Regardless of what stage of the application processes you’re in, our College Application Program can help your student create a profile that stands out. Working one on one with an admissions counselor, we can guide your student through everything from creating a college list to planning for financial stability in college.