<p>I am beginning my college search as a junior in high school. I play the flute and I'm looking at Music Education for my career. I was wondering what schools are the best in Ohio for the music ed. major. </p>
<p>I do know that Baldwin Wallace has a pretty good program, but I don't really know what other schools do.</p>
<p>Welcome. If you are looking specifically for a music ed degree, one of the most cost effective means of achieving this is through your own state college/university system. Most state programs are designed to give you the best bang for your buck, and some will lead directly to teacher certification within your state.</p>
<p>You might want to talk with some of your local music educators and get their feel for what they consider the best state program. Another source of info would be your state's Music Educators Association website.</p>
<p>Also Strings magazine has an online database with searchable music school info here: Strings:</a> Music School Directory</p>
<p>Here's a previous post with music ed thread links <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/5196658-post30.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/5196658-post30.html</a> . It doesn't address your Ohio specific question, but has some valuable general info worth a reading.</p>
<p>Greetings - my D is a senior in an Eastern suburb of Cleveland. Her last voice audition is this week. She has investigated six schools within Ohio and three out of state for music ed. Please don't rule out private schools since tuition at many of Ohio's state schools is very high and scholarship money at private schools can work in your favor, even out of state. She is unsure at this moment which school she will attend. If you would like her account and opinion of the schools she has explored let us know. Best wishes with your future.
JD</p>
<p>Don't overlook Otterbein - it is private but, if you have good scores, a good GPA and a good audition, there is a lot of financial help - and you get the nicest people in the world.</p>
<p>Cincinnati has 100% placement for music ed graduates. I applied there (performance & education double major), and I was pretty impressed with the campus, students, and music program as a whole. Might be worth looking into :)</p>
<p>All the schools my D has sincere interest in have 95-100% job placement as well. In no particular order</p>
<p>University of Miami (OH)
Otterbein (OH)
Baldwin Wallace (OH)
DePaul (Chicago)
Duquesne (Pa)
Ithaca (NY)</p>
<p>As for CCM - from what we have learned here on CC and through other sources, after the fact, is that music ed is not considered to be one of their strong points. It is also nearly impossible to get in there, unless your performance skills are beyond extraordinary. There are other parents and students here that would back me up on that statement. After what she has discovered regarding CCM she is actually happy that they rejected her pre-audition DVD and saved us a trip. More importantly it also opened up another excellent opportunity at one of the above schools which would not have happened had we wasted any additional time and money with CCM.</p>
<p>Well said Just Dad!</p>
<p>Cartera is right and I have said it before...do not overlook Otterbein. D has been offered great scholarship money from them. </p>
<p>And I agree...there are many choices other than CCM!</p>
<p>I don't want to hijack this thread but your comment about schools with 95-100% placement makes me wonder. We have visited a couple of schools with D (a junior) and they have also said they have 95-100% placement for music ed. However, I have talked to people who have recently graduated as well as music educators that all talk about the decline of music ed., particularly in the public schools.
Just a Dad or anyone monitoring this thread, does anyone have ideas about what appears to be a conflict between music school placement projections vs. feedback from people in the field? I know most schools count attending grad school as placement...is this part of the explanation?
Also, any recommended music ed schools in Indiana?</p>
<p>Some schools also count as placement having been offered a job, even if the departing student does not accept the offer.</p>
<p>I am amazed at the 95-100% placement cited at these schools also. My S has been accepted (so far) at LSU and Ball State for vocal music ed, and while Ball State did not mention it, LSU very much emphasized they have 100% job placement in music ed. That is JOB placement and not just grad school or some other. The proviso was also you had to be willing to move, so maybe you might not get the state you wanted, but you could get a job. They said the majority of their placements were in Texas and Florida, due in part to the way those states generously fund music in their public schools. Nevertheless, they said school systems from all over the US recruit at LSU, so getting a job is no problem.</p>
<p>Can it be that there are really that many music ed jobs that so many schools can make this claim? I have no personal knowledge (other than Texas, which I know does fund an extensive program), but my intuitive guess would have been the opposite. It seems I'm always reading about music being the first to go in school budget cuts. Any experts out there with some facts/data?</p>
<p>Obviously BassDad's post about getting a job offer you turn down could be one explanation.</p>
<p>My husband and I are both teachers. In our school system in Maryland a music teacher would have absolutely no trouble getting a job. In fact there are three openings listed on the website right now. These are for immediate openings, not next school year. I don't know about other states but the teacher shortage in Maryland has expanded to all areas. Maryland colleges do not graduate anywhere near enough education majors in any subject matter to cover the openings.</p>
<p>Here is the link if you know of anyone looking for a job and willing to come to Maryland. We are located about 20 miles south of DC.
Certificated</a> Open Positions</p>
<p>The claims of 100% job placement echo what we have heard (SUNYs Potsdam and Fredonia, and Ithaca College) here in NY state. The Deans all said, as posted above, that you may not get your first choice of locales, but you will get a job; and they are constantly getting calls from districts out of state looking for their grads. Don't have any facts and figures, but apparently, there is a large number of retirements taking place now and predicted for the next 5-10 years.</p>
<p>Does anyone out there in the trenches have any idea of why there might be a sudden large number of retirements and positions going unfilled? Is it that the current crop of music teachers just happens to have a large number of people coming up on the normal retirement age, or are a lot of people exercising an option to retire early because conditions are driving them out of the profession?</p>
<p>marylandmom3 - </p>
<p>Looked at your link and there are lots of jobs there, including one I spotted for vocal music ed. Here is part of the job description that I found amusing, like something you'd see on Jay Leno (I really mean no disrespect, honestly, but it is amusing, in a public school speak sort of way):</p>
<p>"The environmental factors and/or physical requirements of this position include the following: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to have ordinary ambulatory skills sufficient to visit other locations; and the ability to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch, and manipulate (lift, carry, move) light to medium weights of 10-50 pounds. Requires good hand-eye coordination, arm, hand and finger dexterity, including ability to grasp, and visual acuity to use a keyboard. The employee frequently is required to sit, reach with hands and arms, talk and hear."</p>
<p>My arthritis would probably disqualify me from this one. Ability to talk and hear is getting weaker as I age.</p>
<p>I'm from Rockville-- directly north of DC--how can you be 20 miles south of DC and be in MD?? This could be my geographical non-knowlege, but I'm just curious...and prepared to be humiliated by your answer.</p>
<p>Also, UMass told parents that there is 100% placement for Music ed majors!! Funny trend here!</p>
<p>BassDad, I think it is just an overall aging of the population of teachers in general (baby boomers). In our school system we are facing a looming loss of over 50% of our principals. They are in a panic as to how to replace them. In our School for the Deaf (D1 interested in this), almost all (yes, all) of their current teachers are set to retire in 5 - 7 years (average age over there is 55 yr).</p>
<p>While I have no hard data, it is well known that certain schools with long standing reps as good music ed schools have very high placement rates. These schools often serve as feeder sources for new openings in surrounding public and private schools within a geographic region. In the northeast, schools like Suny Potsdam (Crane), Ithaca, NYU, Hartt all have well deserved reps for producing talented, dedicated and well trained music ed teachers. The hiring district/entity often has/had a number of graduates from these schools that serve as history and testimony to the quality and consistency of their undergrad/grad programs. These candidates are actively recruited, and are often offered their first jobs before they have graduated. </p>
<p>From personal experience, my son informed me that all of his music ed graduating Hartt class had firm job offers as educators within six months of graduating. Not all of these were in the public system; a number were in the private school sector or in community or independent music programs. It's also important to realize that not all positions are full time; some are listed as .5-.75 FTE (full time equivalent) based on allocated funding. </p>
<p>Geography, district funding, perception of arts values, community involvement and support, and availability of quality instruction are but some
factors in establishing and maintaining a continued arts/music presence in the public schools. Unfortunately, in times of tight funding, these supplementary programs are among the first to be cut. That is also why competition in the "great" districts for new hires can be fierce, as there is far less chance of these programs being eliminated as they have proven their value over time.</p>
<p>Professional organizations like ASTA, MENC, MTNA, state music educators associations all have websites addressing trends, problems, issues relating to music education. For future music educators, it is important to know of these resources, and to be actively involved in local/regional issues pertaining to the profession, and to foster involvement and support of music in the schools and community.</p>
<p>These organizations also have web accessible job opportunity databases. It can be a valuable resource.</p>
<p>BassDad, think about it. Many of the current teachers were "boomers". I had seriously considered a career as a teacher, but chose another path as the average starting salary at the time of my undergrad career was far less than could be obtained at another profession, even with a non-specialized degree.</p>
<p>Locally, we have the issues of broad retirement as teachers age, and this is true in a wide range of subject matter. Conversely, our music teachers seem to last forever, and as a group are extremely dedicated, highly qualified, consistently motivate and produce students that excel, and as such enjoy strong community support. Attrition has been low, and "early" retirement does not seem to be a goal for those that are approaching that phase. </p>
<p>As for positions being unfilled, there has been a shortage of string teachers for a while, prompting the creation of The National String Project about a decade ago NSPC:</a> NSPC. I can't speak to shortages in other music areas, but have followed this for a while. </p>
<p>It's important to realize that even within great regional areas for public school music/arts support there are locales and districts that are underfunded, poorly paid, or consistently badly run. These are the areas where shortages in attracting/maintaing a high quality teacher base across a broad subject bases have always been a problem. It tends to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.</p>
<p>jazzzmom - I don't know where marylandmom lives but Waldorf would fit that description - a little east I guess but that whole area is south of DC. </p>
<p>When we visited JMU, we were told they had a 100% placement rate - I do believe that they are perhaps the main feeder school for music teachers in Virginia and probably place a good number in West Virginia and North Carolina so I don't doubt it.</p>