Is music your passion? A Masters in Music Education could help you turn that passion into a long and rewarding career – or, if you’re already a music teacher, it could help you get more out of your current role and contribute even more value to your students.

The Best Masters in Music Education Programs

Boston University offers an excellent Masters in Music Education course, which also happens to be available online making it extra flexible for people who are currently busy teaching music full-time. Boston has been offering highly valuable specialist courses in music teaching for many decades now, so you know this course will equip you with the most up-to-date knowledge and techniques available. The school’s reputation means it has attracted an unusually outstanding music teaching faculty.

Steinhardt at New York University is another top choice for Music Education. Many aspiring musicians move to New York to pursue their careers and start teaching as a way to make a living from their passion. This is an on-campus program with a high level of interactivity and some pretty off-beat classroom sessions. There’s a strong focus of learning from each other – your own classmates, not just the official teaching staff. The teachers at NYU think outside the box and really let creativity flourish in the classroom. They also have a suite of state-of-the-art music technology facilities that will provide the hardware you need to make the music you envision.

The Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University is another good option for graduate music education programs. This is a part-time course taught in the evenings and is best suited to people who are already engaged in a music teaching role and want to add to their existing skillset.

Online Masters in Music Education

Online education is extremely popular these days, and music lends itself quite well to the online format. When it comes to finding the best Masters in Music Education online degree, most of the big names in online advanced education, such as the University of Phoenix, are missing. There are some great online programs, however, such as the ones below.

The University of Hawai’i at Manoa has a Music Education Masters with a unique cultural take on what music means and how it can be created. This program is geared towards people who are already teaching music, either with a private institution or as part of the public school system. The program covers a wide-angle history of music, as well as focus topics on more modern musical forms such as rock and roll.

Kent State University, which doesn’t usual dabble much in online learning, has developed a particularly impressive online Masters in Music Education program. The Kent State program is better suited to someone who has an interest in classical styles of music, as opposed to more modern developments. If rock or hip hop is your music of choice, this program is probably not for you – but if jazz is your thing or Mozart is your idol, chances are you will thoroughly enjoy the Kent State program.

The Boston program, of course, is online and should be the first one you take a look at if you decide to go down the distance learning path.

Masters in Music Education Salary and Jobs

The main goal for most people who take on a Masters in Music Education is to either secure a teaching position or advance further in their current teaching career. This degree can also have other uses, such as developing your knowledge of music to help you advance a career as a professional artist. Other opportunities include running or starting your own music school or music tuition business. You may also want to get into a role such as conducting an orchestra – this Masters degree is a great way to get a foot in the door for such a job, not only through the education you receive but also through the contacts you’ll make.

As for getting paid: music teachers typically earn around $55,000 a year at high schools or private institutions, with music professor salaries at universities reaching up to the $120,000 range so a masters in music education definitely pays.