Music is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #36 most popular master's degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
College Factual looked at 21 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Music Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 705 master's degrees in music to qualified students.
Earn the music business degree that fits into the business world – and partners Southern New Hampshire University with world-renowned Berklee College of Music.
Choosing a Great Music School for Your Master's Degree
The music master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality music program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Early-Career Salaries
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to music students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - The number of music students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt music students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized music related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for music students working on their master's degree.
The music school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Music Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region.
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Earn the music business degree that fits into the business world – and partners Southern New Hampshire University with world-renowned Berklee College of Music.
University of Southern California is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a master's degree in music. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.
After graduation, music master's recipients usually earn about $27,510 at the beginning of their careers.
San Francisco Conservatory of Music is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in music. SFCM is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Francisco.
Master's recipients from the music program at San Francisco Conservatory of Music make $2,952 more than the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
University of California - Los Angeles is a good choice for individuals pursuing a master's degree in music. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population.
Students who graduate with their master's from the music program state that they receive average early career income of $15,520.
University of Oregon is a great option for students pursuing a master's degree in music. UO is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Eugene.
Students who graduate with their master's from the music program report average early career earnings of $20,707.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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.
The music master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality music program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
