Looking for a smaller school with a great Marching Band and Music Education major

College Majors Music Major
1

We are looking for a college/university that is on the smaller side. Prefer around 2000-3000 students or less, but willing to look at places up to 5000 students. And the school needs to have a Marching Band - and my student wants to major in Music Education.

Yes I know this is a difficult thing to find as most schools with Marching Bands are larger schools. Any suggestions would be helpful. We’d prefer the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast area, but if its a great school we’ll consider other locations. Thanks for any help. We are finding it hard to even search these requirements online!

2

Gettysburg

3

Christopher Newport U. in Virginia? A smaller Virginia public school (5000ish, I think) and has a marching band. Two friends have kids who are very happy there, though not studying music (one is in the marching band though).

4

West Chester State in PA

5

Idk about these but they came up in a google search.

Western Carolina
Furman
Albion
Sacred Heart
Holy Cross
Oklahoma Panhandle State University
California University of Pennsylvania
Union College
Wartburg
Midwestern State

6

Nazareth

7

Midwestern good LAC music schools with “pep” bands. St Olaf in MN and Luther in IA. I don’t know if pep bands march…but they have bands for their athletic teams.

8

Furman meets all your criteria although a little bit south of MidAtlantic. Very good school with excellent music program.

9

If your S or D wants to teach in K-12 then it is best to look to the geographic area where they want to teach. Around here there are specific schools that have a leg up in hiring for music ed since there seems to be a network. I would ask music teachers located where they want to teach first.

10

Actually there is NO marching band program whatsoever at St. Olaf. And there really is not much of a pep band either. The pep band is student run and at least for the first few football games, non-existent. They are known for their orchestra and band programs, in concert halls, in tuxedos, but not for sports. Excellent music programs, but not for a marching band enthusiast.

11

Furman should definitely be on your list to check out. An academically strong school; expensive but generous with music scholarships.

12

Thanks for all the help! I’'ll check out Furman, Nazareth and Gettysburg. West Chester is on the list for us, but is way too large size-wise.

13

Looks like Nazareth doesn’t have a marching band. And neither does Union. It would be helpful if people can actually give names of schools that they know have marching bands. I can bring up google searches myself - but what I’m looking for is advice from people that know of schools WITH marching bands - not just random music schools. Thanks! That was why I was asking in the first place.

14

Any comments on whether Lebanon Valley College is good for music ed?

15

I don’t know if 10,000 students (90% UG and 10% grad) is too large but SUNY Buffalo State has both a marching band and a music education program.

16

Still googling:

http://www.unionky.edu/academics/departments/fine-performing-arts/union-college-band-0

https://www2.naz.edu/dept/music/ensembles/symphonic-pep-bands

17

Mansfield University and Slippery Rock both have marching bands

18

University of Dayton has a joint marching band with other local colleges. They have about 8000 students.
https://www.udayton.edu/artssciences/academics/music/pod/index.php

Looks like they offer a music ed degree.

It is hard to find a marching band at a smaller school. Some schools have a football team but no marching band. You can find Pep bands for some sports.

Butler University in Indiana has a marching band and music ed. They are about 5000 students.

Another thing to look out for is some marching bands are student run organizations and not part of the music dept.