Hi, My D is considering applying as a vocal performer for Jazz programs. Do any of the UC’s have that option? Any other’s that you want to recommend would be greatly appreciated. She does not want to study opera or classical.
Hi. I am unfamiliar with the term “UC”. What year is your D? My D is a senior and has applied for vocal jazz in college. There are a lot of options. There is also a lot of good info on this thread;
My daughter WAS going to major in vocal jazz performance- did the Songbook Academy twice, was in a couple of jazz ensembles, and then last year, during the summer before her senior year…decided to major in musical theatre LOL!! We are from CA and for the state schools, not many of the UCs even have a Bachelor of Music performance degree. Most are nonaudition BAs. For the BMs in music, UC Santa Barbara is pretty much opera and UC Santa Cruz had an OK jazz program, but not a vocal jazz performance degree. Berkeley has a lot of jazz as just ensembles, not a voice degree. UCLA has probably the best music program with lots of jazz performance opportunities, but if I remember right, their voice degree audition material was classical stuff. It’s weird, but the Cal States have arguably better jazz programs than the UCs. Fullerton and Northridge are fantastic for jazz but have no vocal degree. The Bob Cole Conservatory at CSU Long Beach does have a Bachelor of Music performance degree in Jazz Studies and that was the one that seemed the best.
Unfortunately for my D, CSULB is a half mile from our house and she did not want to go there!! So we were looking at out of state schools. It probably goes without saying but none of these CA schools can even come close to USC for jazz, the connections you get from that school to the industry are incredible, but that is some steep tuition.
Don’t limit yourself to the state schools. CA public colleges are notoriously stingy with scholarship money. Look on CC for schools that give lots of scholarship $ and you may end up paying the same as a UC or less. My daughter is going to a state school in AZ and getting a BM vocal performance (in musical theatre) degree. Even though she is out of state, with her scholarships, we aren’t paying any tuition at all. Good luck 
Sorry @SpartanDrew UC refers to all of the University of California schools. I realize now this is national, sorry. Thank you for the link
I second Long Beach for vocal jazz. The only UC’s that admit with audition for VP are UCLA, UCSB and UC Irvine. My D applied to all three this year and they were all classical voice specific. However, jazz at UCLA is under Ethnomusicology.