Lists and Rankings

Colleges with Fine Music Programs

Most liberal arts and sciences schools offer courses in music...after all, it's a core subject. But where can you find music departments that go beyond the basics? The following colleges offer programs that are worth a second look.

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• American Conservatory of Music (IL)
• Guitar Institute (CA)
• Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (United Kingdom)
• Musicians Institute (CA)
• New School (NY)
• New World School of the Arts (FL)
• Shenandoah Conservatory (VA)
• Allegheny College (Meadville, PA)
• Amherst College (Amherst, MA)
• Baldwin–Wallace College (Berea, OH)
• Ball State University (Muncie, IN)
• Belmont University (Nashville, TN)
• Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA)
• Bethune–Cookman University (Daytona Beach, FL)
• Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH)
• Brandeis University (Waltham, MA)
• Brenau University (Gainesville, GA)
• California Institute of the Arts (Valencia, CA)
• California State University — Chico (Chico, CA)
• California State University — Long Beach (Long Beach, CA)
• Capital University (Columbus, OH)
• Cleveland Institute of Music (Cleveland, OH)
• Cogswell Polytechnical College (Sunnyvale, CA)
• College of William and Mary (Williamsburg, VA)
• Columbia College (Columbia, SC)
• Columbia College Chicago (Chicago, IL)
• Converse College (Spartanburg, SC)
• Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)
• Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle, WA)
• Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia, PA)
• Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH)
• Davidson College (Davidson, NC)
• DePaul University (Chicago, IL)
• DePauw University (Greencastle, IN)
• Denison University (Granville, OH)
• Duke University (Durham, NC)
• Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL)
• Emerson College (Boston, MA)
• Emory University (Atlanta, GA)
• Five Towns College (Dix Hills, NY)
• Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, FL)
• Furman University (Greenville, SC)
• George Mason University (Fairfax, VA)
• Gettysburg College (Gettysburg, PA)
• Goucher College (Baltimore, MD)
• Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter, MN)
• Harvard University (Cambridge, MA)
• Illinois State University (Normal, IL)
• Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL)
• Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY)
• Jacksonville University (Jacksonville, FL)
• James Madison University (Harrisonburg, VA)
• Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)
• Juilliard School (New York, NY)
• Lawrence University (Appleton, WI)
• Lebanon Valley College (Annville, PA)
• Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA)
• Loyola University New Orleans (New Orleans, LA)
• Manhattan School of Music (New York, NY)
• Mannes College The New School for Music (New York, NY)
• McNally Smith College of Music (St. Paul, MN)
• Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)
• Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro, TN)
• Moravian College (Bethlehem, PA)
• Muhlenberg College (Allentown, PA)
• New England Conservatory of Music (Boston, MA)
• Northern Illinois University (DeKalb, IL)
• Ohio Northern University (Ada, OH)
• Ohio Wesleyan University (Delaware, OH)
• Pacific Union College (Angwin, CA)
• Pepperdine University (Malibu, CA)
• Point Park University (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Pomona College (Claremont, CA)
• Reed College (Portland, OR)
• Rollins College (Winter Park, FL)
• Roosevelt University (Chicago, IL)
• SUNY — Albany (Albany, NY)
• SUNY — Binghamton (Binghamton, NY)
• SUNY — Fredonia (Fredonia, NY)
• SUNY — Potsdam (Potsdam, NY)
• SUNY — Purchase College (Purchase, NY)
• San Francisco Conservatory of Music (San Francisco, CA)
• Santa Fe University of Art and Design (Santa Fe, NM)
• Scripps College (Claremont, CA)
• Smith College (Northampton, MA)
• Southern Illinois University — Carbondale (Carbondale, IL)
• Southwestern University (Georgetown, TX)
• St. Mary's University of Minnesota (Winona, MN)
• St. Olaf College (Northfield, MN)
• Stanford University (Stanford, CA)
• Susquehanna University (Selinsgrove, PA)
• Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, PA)
• The Boston Conservatory (Boston, MA)
• The College of New Jersey (Ewing, NJ)
• The Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL)
• Towson University (Towson, MD)
• Trinity International University (Deerfield, IL)
• University of Alaska Anchorage (Anchorage, AK)
• University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR)
• University of California — Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA)
• University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)
• University of California, Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA)
• University of Central Arkansas (Conway, AR)
• University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
• University of Colorado, Boulder (Boulder, CO)
• University of Connecticut (Storrs, CT)
• University of Delaware (Newark, DE)
• University of Denver (Denver, CO)
• University of Hartford (West Hartford, CT)
• University of Idaho (Moscow, ID)
• University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA)
• University of Mary Washington (Fredericksburg, VA)
• University of Maryland, College Park (College Park, MD)
• University of Memphis (Memphis, TN)
• University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL)
• University of Missouri — Kansas City (Kansas City, MO)
• University of North Carolina School of the Arts (Winston-Salem, NC)
• University of Oregon (Eugene, OR)
• University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, WA)
• University of Southern Maine (Gorham, ME)
• University of Washington, Seattle (Seattle, WA)
• University of West Georgia (Carrollton, GA)
• University of Wisconsin — Oshkosh (Oshkosh, WI)
• University of the Arts (Philadelphia, PA)
• VanderCook College of Music (Chicago, IL)
• Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY)
• Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA)
• Wake Forest University (Winston Salem, NC)
• Webster University (St. Louis, MO)
• Wellesley College (Wellesley, MA)
• West Virginia University (Morgantown, WV)
• William Paterson University of New Jersey (Wayne, NJ)
• Williams College (Williamstown, MA)
• Yale University (New Haven, CT)