College Search Activity
Subject: Schools with Music Majors
Grade Level/Audience: High School Student at any Grade Level who is Considering Majoring in Music/Individuals
Main Internet Website: College Navigator, a website sponsored by the Institute of National Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education
Prospective Music Majors! Is there a song in your heart? Are you looking for schools to study music? Here is a great way to research possible matches for your music interests! But first, here is some general information about majoring in music.
You can study music at two different types of institutions, a liberal arts college or university, or a music conservancy. At a liberal arts college or university, you will earn a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. In addition to your classes in music, you will have a lot of course work outside your major. At a music conservatory, you will earn a Bachelor of Music (BM) degree. This degree will prepare you for a career as a professional musician. Keep this in mind as you perform the following college search.
College Search. Follow the steps below.
- First, go to "What it Takes To Be a Music Major" and "Life as a College Music Major — What's It Really Like?" and read both articles on what it takes to be a music major. Also, consider reading Peterson's College Guide for Performing Arts Majors 2008. If you are still interested in pursuing music in college, go on to step 2. If not, spend some more time looking up possible alternate majors.
- If you are here, you have decided to investigate colleges and universities that offer a music major. The next step is to visit College Navigator at http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator, a college search website.
- Look at the left side of the screen. If you are open to studying anywhere in the United States, leave the section titled "States" blank. If you want to restrict your search to a state, region, or an area within 250 mile from home, enter that information under "States" now.
- Next, type in "Level of Award" (a Bachelor's degree in most cases) and "Institution Type" (whether you want a public or private school and a 4-year or 2-year school).
- Finally, go back up to "Programs/Majors" and click the select button immediately to the right. A window pops up on the right side of the screen with a list of possible majors. Scroll down the list and click on "visual and performing arts." A list of majors appears. Click on "Music."
- Twelve different music majors appear. Click on the "+add" button next to each type of program you are considering. The ones you choose will be displayed in the window immediately above called "Your Selections." You may remove any of these choices by clicking on the "remove" button or add additional choices by clicking on "+add" from the choices below.
- Now click on the "Search Results" button on the left. Your search results will be displayed on the right. If your search has resulted in too many choices, go back to the left side of the page and click on "More Search Options." You can limit your search based on tuition, number of students, housing availability, acceptance rates, your test scores, athletic teams, extended learning opportunities, religious preferences, and specialized mission. Once you have narrowed down your criteria, click "Search Results" again.
- You should now have a much smaller list of choices. Run your mouse over the icon to the left of the college name to see a brief description of the school. If you are interested in a school, click "Add to Favorites" next to that school. You will also notice that you can arrange your college list by name, city, or state.
- Assessment. You can now print, export, or save this list to a disc.
