Which Ohio music program has the lowest debt?

University of Cincinnati reports the lowest median federal debt, $23,946, with first-year pay of $12,875.

How much do music graduates earn in Ohio?

The median across 10 Ohio music bachelor's programs is $25,212 in the first year after graduating and $35,433 five years after.

How many music bachelor's programs are in Ohio?

10 Ohio programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 10 of them also report federal debt.

Music (Bachelor's) Programs in Ohio, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

10 programs report first-year pay
10 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Music

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Ohio music bachelor's program pays its graduates $25,212 in their first year, $320 less than the national median. University of Akron reports the highest first-year pay ($36,293), and University of Cincinnati the lowest median debt ($23,946).

Median first-year pay$25,212National $25,532

Median pay after 5 years$35,433National $40,860

Median federal debt$27,000National $26,000

Debt-to-earnings109%National 92%

All 10 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	University of AkronAkron · public	$36,293	$27,350	$25,062	69%
2	Ohio UniversityAthens · public	$36,252	$40,932	$27,000	74%
3	Capital UniversityColumbus · private nonprofit	$33,143	$44,322	$27,000	81%
4	Cleveland StateCleveland · public	$32,887	Not reported	$30,000	91%
5	Ohio StateColumbus · public	$26,084	$38,830	$27,000	104%
6	Kent StateKent · public	$24,340	Not reported	$28,000	115%
7	Bowling Green StateBowling Green · public	$20,632	$37,873	$27,000	131%
8	Miami UniversityOxford · public	$19,353	Not reported	$27,000	140%
9	Oberlin CollegeOberlin · private nonprofit	$17,141	$32,993	$26,200	153%
10	University of CincinnatiCincinnati · public	$12,875	$32,173	$23,946	186%

2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Ohio music program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 10 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$78,800

Median pay in Ohio. 49,540 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $48,370Top 10%: $103,150

Sound Engineering Technicians

$64,030

Median pay in Ohio. 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%: $31,200Top 10%: $131,090

Music Directors and Composers

$61,380

Median pay in Ohio. 440 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $40,350Top 10%: $121,270

Common questions

University of Akron in Akron reports the highest median first-year pay, $36,293. Its median federal debt is $25,062.

Music (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked229 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 Ohio rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the music bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024