SUNY Fredonia Music (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

  • Bachelor's in Music
  • Public school
  • Fredonia, NY
  • About 36 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

SUNY Fredonia music graduates earn about what music graduates earn nationally, $21,524 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,000. Several New York programs report higher pay.

First-year earnings$21,52428th percentile of 229 programs nationally
Earnings after 5 years$32,16449% more than year one
Median federal debt$27,0007th lowest of 10 New York programs
Debt-to-earnings125%New York median 120%, national 92%

How it compares

Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The New York and national columns are the medians across all music bachelor's programs that report the figure.

Five years out, SUNY Fredonia graduates earn less than the national figure and about $2,248 less than the New York median.

Debt and first-year pay at every New York music program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the New York medians.

SUNY FredoniaOther New York programs

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

What graduates earn over time

Pay rises about 49% between the first and fifth year.

SUNY Fredonia grads, year 1$21,524
SUNY Fredonia grads, year 5$32,164
All New York music grads, year 5$34,412

Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.

Does family income change the outcome?

Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned more in their first year than other graduates. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.

Pell Grant recipients, year 1 earnings$24,936Median debt $27,000
Other graduates, year 1 earnings$20,701Median debt $27,000

Paying back the loans

On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $286 a month, or 15.9% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.

The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.

Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth

94% of graduates (33 of 35) were working in New York one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of New York outside metro areas are about 8% below the national average, so a $21,524 salary here buys what about $23,494 buys in a typical US city.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to music, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$97,070

Median pay in New York. 70,660 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $60,070Top 10%: $136,450

Sound Engineering Technicians

$87,510

Median pay in New York. 2,050 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.

Bottom 10%: $52,620Top 10%: $157,600

Music Directors and Composers

$82,930

Median pay in New York. 2,370 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $46,640Top 10%: $199,430

About SUNY Fredonia

Music ranks 17th of 19 bachelor's programs at SUNY Fredonia by first-year earnings. The top three are Finance ($46,737), Accounting ($46,658), and Business Administration ($44,089).

Common questions

The median graduate earns $21,524 one year after graduating and $32,164 five years after. The median across music bachelor's programs in New York is $19,145.

About this data

  • Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
  • Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
  • Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
  • Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of New York comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
  • Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
  • School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the music program.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024

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