Music (Bachelor's) Programs in Virginia, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt
- 5 programs report first-year pay
- 5 also report federal debt
- Bachelor's in Music
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
The median Virginia music bachelor's program pays its graduates $34,611 in their first year, $9,079 more than the national median. Radford University reports the highest first-year pay ($39,593), and JMU the lowest median debt ($20,968).
All 5 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.
4 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.
Debt and first-year pay at every Virginia music program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Virginia medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Quick picks
Highest first-year pay
- Radford University$39,593
- JMU$36,106
- George Mason$34,611
- VCU$28,989
- Liberty University$28,003
Lowest median debt
- JMU$20,968
- George Mason$24,048
- Radford University$27,000
- VCU$27,000
- Liberty University$27,000
Lowest debt for the pay
- JMU58%
- Radford University68%
- George Mason69%
- VCU93%
- Liberty University96%
"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
$72,170Median pay in Virginia. 31,100 people work in this job in Virginia. 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
$49,920Median pay in Virginia. 120 people work in this job in Virginia. 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
$59,050Median pay in Virginia. 370 people work in this job in Virginia. 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.
Common questions
Radford University in Radford reports the highest median first-year pay, $39,593. Its median federal debt is $27,000.
JMU reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,968, with first-year pay of $36,106.
The median across 5 Virginia music bachelor's programs is $34,611 in the first year after graduating and $41,921 five years after.
5 Virginia programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.
Related pages
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 Virginia 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