Ranked #34 in popularity, music is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 10 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools in Massachusetts ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,058 bachelor'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 Bachelor's Degree
Your choice of music for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality music program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
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 ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
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 - How many other music students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
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 easy is it for music to pay back their student loans after receiving their bachelor's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized music related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for music students working on their bachelor's degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools in Massachusetts ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
DEBUG: Raw major_slug = "visual-and-performing-arts//music"
Earn the music business degree that fits into the business world – and partners Southern New Hampshire University with world-renowned Berklee College of Music.
Boston University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in music. Boston U is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Boston.
Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the music program make an average of $23,934 in their early career salary.
Berklee College of Music is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in music. Located in the city of Boston, Berklee College of Music is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.
Soon after graduating, music bachelor's recipients usually earn around $18,177 in the first five years of their career.
It is difficult to beat Northeastern University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in music. Northeastern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Boston.
Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the music program make an average of $21,978 in their early career salary.
Williams College is a great option for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in music. Located in the town of Williamstown, Williams is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Williams College
Located in the large suburb of Lowell, UMass Lowell is a public university with a large student population.
Bachelor's recipients from the music program at University of Massachusetts - Lowell make $10,461 above the average graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
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.
Your choice of music for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality music program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
