<p>Recently I have been looking around online for different schools that have good Music and Music Education programs in the US. My plan is to do a double major in Music Ed and either jazz studies or music composition. I'm not planning on going to a school because of it's name, but more on whether it best meets my personal standards, so once I hear perspectives about different music schools, I can then find out for myself whether it's a good school for me. I've discovered that finding good schools for just Music in general isn't too hard, but finding good schools for Music education has been very challenging for some strange reason. I know that Indiana University (Jacobs School of Music) has both a fantastic music and music education program and I'm strongly considering that place, but I really want to have more options to choose from, and ones that are reasonably priced for out-of-state tuition. So what would be some music schools around the nation that have really good music education programs as well? Oh, I also forgot to mention that I'm a senior in high school looking to start applying to various schools very very soon. Also, does it really matter whether you go to a school that has been known for having a good Music ed program and that might be out of state, or whether you go to a in state school that you know has a solid music ed program and that is cheaper? Because there are some in state colleges in Washington state that aren't super well known but have very solid music and music ed programs and would be probably cheaper than most out of state schools. Plus outside of liking the professors and location of the school (location is very very secondary for me, by the way), I want to know if going to Jacobs School of Music would put me at a greater advantage for teaching positions than University of Idaho just because it's more well known for it's music programs (in Washington, U of I is in state tuition because it's only 6 miles away from the border ofWashington) or whether both schools will provide me with the exact same teaching opportunities, because I have visited U of I and it's professors very often and it seems like a great school for me too, and it's cheaper with in state tuition than Jacobs school of Music with out of state tuition. Sorry this post is so long and thank you for your time.</p>
<p>Your question is probably best directed towards your school music teachers. If I were you, I would contact every music educator you know (whether or not they know you), explain that you want to go into music ed, and ask their advice about the best places to get a degree. Most will be happy to offer assistance and advice. Ask them about the value of going to a more reputable school and what they think of going out of state. </p>
<p>Where do you want to teach? Each state has different certification requirements; almost any music ed school will prepare you for certification in its particular state, but you might find yourself short courses or requirements for certification elsewhere. </p>
<p>I don’t think that school’s reputation is as important in music ed hiring as it is in hiring for some other disciplines, unless the reputation is a poor one. Those hiring for music ed positions in schools in Washington or Idaho probably would not be aware of IU’s excellent reputation for music. </p>
<p>You will want to be certain that you have stellar references from your internships/student teaching. In my experience with teacher hiring (I’ve taught for over 20 years), references and personal contacts go much further than transcripts or paper credentials.</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t think that IU’s music ed reputation would be worth the four year’s of tuition difference between U of I instate and IU out-of-state tuition (unless you get considerably bigger scholarships at IU).</p>
<p>Another school to consider for music ed is UNT (North Texas). The music school is huge (like IU) and it is a good school. My understanding is that music students can get in-state tuition at UNT if they earn/win any other scholarship there, no matter how small; consequently many music students have instate tutition. While UNT outside of music does not overall have the same reputation as IU, it is well-known amongst music educators.</p>
<p>I’m majoring in piano performance starting this fall at Illinois Wesleyan University, School of Music. I don’t really know much about Music Ed programs specifically, but yes, Indiana is known to have a very strong music program. I don’t know a lot about my school’s music ed program either, but I do know that they brag about a 100% placement rate for Music Ed majors, so it must be pretty good, as well as being a good music program in general. </p>
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I don’t know whether that matters for getting a job right out of school for Music Ed. However, if you choose to go to grad school, that’s the name that matters- the most recent place is the one where you’d want to have the name. But undergrad can affect getting into grad schools too, so it all depends on whether you go that route or not.</p>
<p>This would be a list of schools around the US that are known for undergrad music in general, but I’m can’t speak about their Music Ed programs specifically, so you’d have to do some more research: St. Olaf, Concordia College- Moorhead, Northwestern, Lawrence, Oberlin, DePaul, DePauw, Wheaton (IL), Michigan- Ann Arbor, U of IL, Butler, many others…All of these have a Conservatory, School of Music, or a very strong Department of Music. That’s just a list that comes to the top of my head- I’m from the Midwest, so I’m most familiar with that, but there are obviously many more choices around the US!</p>
<p>Here’s somewhere you could get some ideas as to where people applied for Music Ed:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1045522-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2011-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1045522-master-list-music-school-acceptances-fall-2011-a.html</a> </p>
<p>As well as this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/6280-suggestions-colleges-music-majors.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/6280-suggestions-colleges-music-majors.html</a> </p>
<p>Here’s a thread just where some other people posted names of music schools, although this was someone asking for ideas for a piano major: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1174235-non-conservatory-choices.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1174235-non-conservatory-choices.html</a> But you could look into those schools more and see.</p>
<p>The jazz studies or music comp major is probably going to help narrow down schools for you, since not all schools offer those majors for undergrad, but many, many, will offer a Music Ed major (very common).</p>
<p>A couple of after-thoughts:
- Your earnings as a music educator will be tiny enough to make it difficult to pay back the loans most people would need to incur to cover IU tuition, unless your parents are able to extend considerable help.<br>
- I neglected your mention of your interest in jazz. UNT is quite well-known for jazz and jazz education (much more so than IU).</p>
<p>A couple of caveats to iluvpiano’s advice concerning music grad school and the reputation of your undergrad institution:
a) If you want to pursue a music grad degree in performance or composition, the reputation of your undergrad institution is not important (and for performance, it almost irrelevant): for performance, your audition will be all-important; for composition, your portfolio and references will be much more important than your undergrad institution.
b) If you want to pursue a grad degree in music ed, then again the reputation of your undergrad institution is not important. Entrance for master’s degrees in music ed is not very competitive. As long as your undergrad gpa is okay, the source of that gpa will not be terribly significant.</p>
<p>Son, a rising music ed major, was counciled by his music teachers to stay out of debt for undergrad. Also, to go to a music ed school in the state that he would like to teach in. So, once the acceptances were in, he chose a music school in our home state with a solid reputation for preparing music teachers plus after scholarships he will attend without loans and have money left for grad school. With that being said, you can certainly try Indiana, they have a wonderful reputation and many of son’s college teachers studied there!</p>
<p>Also, for Jazz, most of the music ed schools son applied to had a jazz minor. We know of at least 4 of son’s high school teacher’s from the college he’ll be attending in the fall who did the jazz minor and then went on to grad school for jazz at some of the top schools for Jazz. Son’s high school jazz ensemble teacher said that he was one of the few grads from his Jazz master’s program (a nationally recognized program) who was currently employed and that is because he had the teacher certification from his undergrad.</p>
<p>2 of the schools my S looked at had a music ed with emphasis on jazz studies degree. It requires an extra semester if I remember correctly. UNT did not have this degree yet but they told me they were working on it. Don’t know if that degree would interest you or not.</p>