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 15 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Music Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 570 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.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Music Master's Degree Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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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 great choice for students interested in a master's degree in music. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles.
After graduating, music master's recipients typically make about $27,510 in their early careers.
San Francisco Conservatory of Music is one of the finest 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 city of San Francisco.
Master's recipients from the music major at San Francisco Conservatory of Music earn $6,972 above the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
University of California - Los Angeles is a wonderful option for individuals interested in a master's degree in music. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Students who graduate with their master's from the music program state that they receive average early career wages of $15,520.
It is hard to beat University of Redlands if you wish to pursue a master's degree in music. Located in the city of Redlands, University of Redlands is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in music from University of Redlands
Located in the city of Northridge, CSUN is a public university with a very large student population.
Master's recipients from the music program at California State University - Northridge get $9,932 more than the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
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.