2023 Best Value Music Doctor's Degree Schools in California
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Music Doctor's Degree School for You
With 3,457 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, music is the #35 most popular major in California.
With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Music Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 11 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for music students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.
In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Top 10 Best Music Doctor's Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named University of California - Berkeley the best value school in California for music students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a very large student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Berkeley are $14,160 per year.
UC Berkeley not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Music Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.
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Out of the 11 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a very large student population.
UCLA graduate students pay an average of $13,036 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
In addition to its great value ranking, UCLA is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Music Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.
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Out of the 11 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Irvine landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public college with a fairly large student population.
UC Irvine graduate students pay an average of $13,356 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Davis. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Music Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public college with a very large student population.
UC Davis graduate students pay an average of $13,608 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Santa Barbara. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Music Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public school with a very large student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCSB are $13,581 per year.
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University of California - San Diego did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for music students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. UCSD is a very large public school located in the large city of La Jolla.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCSD are $13,564 per year.
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University of California - Riverside did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for music students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the large city of Riverside, UCR is a public college with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCR are $13,467 a year.
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University of California - Santa Cruz did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for music students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Santa Cruz.
UC Santa Cruz graduate students pay an average of $13,895 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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Claremont Graduate University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Music Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Claremont Graduate University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Claremont.
Claremont Graduate University graduate students pay an average of $36,380 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Claremont Graduate University did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our Best Music Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.
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University of Southern California ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Music Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.
USC graduate students pay an average of $61,396 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
USC also claimed a spot on our Best Music Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.
Request InformationBest Value Music Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Value Music Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Washington | 320 |
| Oregon | 299 |
| Nevada | 94 |
| Hawaii | 31 |
| Alaska | 12 |
More Music Rankings in California
Other Related Music Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
Earn the music business degree that fits into the business world – and partners Southern New Hampshire University with world-renowned Berklee College of Music.
Music Related Majors for Music
One of 10 majors within the area of study, music has other similar majors worth exploring.
Most Popular Majors Related to Music
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Fine & Studio Arts | 37,413 |
| Design & Applied Arts | 36,301 |
| Drama & Theater Arts | 17,341 |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 16,778 |
| General Visual & Performing Arts | 6,355 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 11 schools only.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
More about our data sources and methodologies.