Western Kentucky University Music (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Music
- Public university
- Bowling Green, KY
- About 30 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Western Kentucky University music graduates earn more than graduates of most music programs nationally, $34,766 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $24,317 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,000. It is one of the higher-paying music degrees in Kentucky.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Kentucky and national columns are the medians across all music bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Western Kentucky University graduates earn more than the national figure and about $2,091 more than the Kentucky median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Kentucky music program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Kentucky medians.
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 26% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $258 a month, or 8.9% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
80% of graduates (24 of 30) were working in Kentucky one year after graduating. Prices in the Bowling Green area are about 10% below the national average, so a $34,766 salary here buys what about $38,552 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
$61,560Median pay in Kentucky. 12,780 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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.
Sound Engineering Technicians
$74,100Median pay in Kentucky. 60 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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.
Music Directors and Composers
$73,710Median pay nationwide. 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.
About Western Kentucky University
Music ranks 28th of 45 bachelor's programs at Western Kentucky University by first-year earnings. The top three are Electrical Engineering ($74,205), Mechanical Engineering ($70,722), and Nursing ($68,294).
Other music bachelor's programs near Bowling Green
Common questions
The median graduate earns $34,766 one year after graduating and $43,735 five years after. The median across music bachelor's programs in Kentucky is $31,088.
The median federal loan balance is $24,317, which ranks 4th lowest of 7 music bachelor's programs in Kentucky. That works out to about $258 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 70% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 92%.
Most do. 80% (24 of 30) were working in Kentucky one year after graduating.
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 Kentucky 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
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024