Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Music

Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.

50

Schools Ranked

$27,045

Avg. Earnings

1.5 yrs

Best Payback

8,631

Graduates

How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.

#	School	Net Price/yr	Major Earnings	Payback
1	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX · Public	$5,452	$49,084	1.5 yrs
2	The University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, TX · Public	$10,682	$47,846	3.3 yrs
3	University of Houston Houston, TX · Public	$13,382	$49,312	3.7 yrs
4	Texas A&M University-Kingsville Kingsville, TX · Public	$13,939	$48,041	4.3 yrs
5	The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX · Public	$10,316	$43,674	4.8 yrs
6	Lamar University Beaumont, TX · Public	$13,580	$43,426	6.4 yrs
7	Stephen F Austin State University Nacogdoches, TX · Public	$13,192	$43,054	6.6 yrs
8	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX · Public	$15,248	$44,170	6.7 yrs
9	Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Public	$12,996	$42,363	7.1 yrs
10	East Texas A&M University Commerce, TX · Public	$14,768	$42,682	7.7 yrs
11	West Texas A & M University Canyon, TX · Public	$14,196	$41,937	8.2 yrs
12	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Whitewater, WI · Public	$14,226	$40,945	9.6 yrs
13	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX · Public	$15,458	$40,768	10.7 yrs
14	Tarleton State University Stephenville, TX · Public	$21,117	$42,682	11 yrs
15	University of Nevada-Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV · Public	$11,929	$39,009	11.9 yrs
16	University of Wisconsin-La Crosse La Crosse, WI · Public	$13,198	$39,009	13.2 yrs
17	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX · Public	$14,927	$39,009	14.9 yrs
18	Georgia State University Atlanta, GA · Public	$18,466	$39,729	15.6 yrs
19	Fairfield University Fairfield, CT · Private	$25,929	$41,565	15.8 yrs
20	University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Eau Claire, WI · Public	$14,737	$38,505	16.8 yrs
21	University of North Texas Denton, TX · Public	$14,132	$38,048	18.5 yrs
22	University of Central Arkansas Conway, AR · Public	$16,798	$38,289	20.4 yrs
23	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	$17,360	$38,289	21.1 yrs
24	Auburn University Auburn, AL · Public	$23,468	$39,369	21.5 yrs
25	Texas Wesleyan University Fort Worth, TX · Private	$21,626	$38,289	26.3 yrs
26	Biola University La Mirada, CA · Private	$30,789	$39,369	28.2 yrs
27	Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL · Public	$12,675	$36,668	30.4 yrs
28	University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI · Public	$18,131	$36,848	39.2 yrs
29	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public	$20,557	$36,992	41.3 yrs
30	Ohio University-Main Campus Athens, OH · Public	$23,509	$37,208	42.6 yrs
31	Western Carolina University Cullowhee, NC · Public	$14,701	$36,368	43 yrs
32	Jacksonville State University Jacksonville, AL · Public	$19,115	$36,560	49 yrs
33	North Dakota State University-Main Campus Fargo, ND · Public	$16,071	$36,312	49 yrs
34	Indiana State University Terre Haute, IN · Public	$15,588	$36,131	55.1 yrs
35	Rowan University Glassboro, NJ · Public	$27,278	$36,852	58.9 yrs
36	Luther College Decorah, IA · Private	$23,262	$36,220	76.3 yrs
37	Moravian University Bethlehem, PA · Private	$26,113	$35,600	174.1 yrs
38	Northeastern University Boston, MA · Private	$18,389	$35,416	176.8 yrs
39	George Mason University Fairfax, VA · Public	$19,066	$35,416	183.3 yrs
40	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA · Public	$19,085	$35,351	217.5 yrs
41	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY · Public	$7,187	$35,060	479.1 yrs
42	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,394	$20,140	N/A
43	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN · Private	$7,694	$25,596	N/A
44	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC · Public	$11,619	$33,993	N/A
45	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA · Public	$14,310	$28,309	N/A
46	Hofstra University Hempstead, NY · Private	$33,635	$24,730	N/A
47	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT · Public	$20,344	$28,598	N/A
48	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Waterbury, CT · Public	$10,112	$28,598	N/A
49	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Groton, CT · Public	$9,414	$28,598	N/A
50	University of Connecticut-Stamford Stamford, CT · Public	$15,152	$28,598	N/A

Top Earners in Music

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

Explore best value colleges across all majors and categories.

Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.