Online Audio and Music Production programs
13 programs — 9 with federal cost data, the rest suppressed for small class sizes and listed after them, led by institutions where this is the main program rather than one of many. Federal figures cover the wider program family, so a row may share its numbers with related degrees.
Data last updated
Specific program
Schools file the same degree under different federal codes — Berklee’s music production sits under “Music, Other”, Academy of Art’s under “Recording Arts”. These groups gather every code a program is actually filed under.
Hide for-profit colleges(3 programs)What our data shows about for-profit collegesAcross the creative fields on this site, students at private for-profit institutions borrow 27% more than students at public ones ($29,332 against $23,033) and earn 15% less four years after completing ($38,361 against $45,110).The combined effect is severe. Median debt at a for-profit equals 70% of a graduate’s annual earnings, against 47% at a public institution. And 10% of for-profit programs leave graduates owing more than they earn in a year — against 1% of public ones. Ten times the rate.This is a pattern across 212 for-profit programs, not a handful of outliers, and it holds in every creative field we cover. It does not mean no for-profit program is worth taking: some appear high in our best-value rankings, and this filter hides those too. It means the odds are materially worse, and the burden of proof sits with the school.Figures are medians computed from the College Scorecard and IPEDS data behind every table on this site.
| Institution | Programcredential and delivery | at completion | 4 yrs after | Median federal loan debt at completion, divided by median earnings four years later. It answers a single question: how much of one year’s income do you owe on the day you finish?Below 50% is generally considered manageable. Above 100% means graduates owe more than they earn in a year, and repayment on a standard ten-year plan starts to consume a serious share of income.Debt covers federal loans only, so real ratios are often worse. Both figures are medians — half of graduates fall on the wrong side of each. |
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| Berklee College of MusicMA · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Music Theory and CompositionBachelor’s degree · Fully onlineOffers: Contemporary Writing and Production (BM) · Film Scoring (BM) · Game and Interactive Media Scoring (BM) · Songwriting (BM) · Composition (BM) · Jazz Composition (BM)What this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Music Performance, GeneralMusic, OtherMusic PedagogyConductingThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | $23,392 | $38,617 | 61% |
| Berklee College of MusicMA · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Music Theory and CompositionMaster’s degree · Online or on campusOffers: Contemporary Writing and Production (BM) · Film Scoring (BM) · Game and Interactive Media Scoring (BM) · Songwriting (BM) · Composition (BM) · Jazz Composition (BM)What this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Music Performance, GeneralMusic, OtherMusic PedagogyConductingThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | $41,000 | $55,467 | 74% |
| Ohio University-Main CampusOH · PublicRequest information → | Music Theory and CompositionMaster’s degree · Online or on campusWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Music PedagogyMusic Performance, GeneralConductingMusic History, Literature, and TheoryKeyboard InstrumentsVoice and OperaMusic TechnologyThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | — | $50,365 | — |
| Rider UniversityNJ · Private nonprofitRequest information → | ConductingMaster’s degree · Online or on campusWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Voice and OperaMusic PedagogyMusic History, Literature, and TheoryMusic, GeneralMusic Theory and CompositionKeyboard InstrumentsThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | $41,000 | $45,928 | 89% |
| Dallas CollegeTX · PublicRequest information → | Music Theory and CompositionAssociate degree · Fully onlineWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Music, GeneralMusic TechnologyThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | — | $48,378 | — |
| Dallas CollegeTX · PublicRequest information → | Music Theory and CompositionUndergraduate certificate · Fully onlineWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Music, GeneralMusic TechnologyThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | — | $29,373 | — |
| Boston UniversityMA · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Music Theory and CompositionMaster’s degree · Online or on campusWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Music Performance, GeneralMusic, GeneralMusicology and EthnomusicologyKeyboard InstrumentsVoice and OperaThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | $39,771 | $43,249 | 92% |
| Western Michigan UniversityMI · PublicRequest information → | Music Theory and CompositionBachelor’s degree · Fully onlineWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Music Performance, GeneralMusic TechnologyMusic, GeneralVoice and OperaJazz/Jazz StudiesConductingKeyboard InstrumentsThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | $27,000 | $36,254 | 74% |
| Western Michigan UniversityMI · PublicRequest information → | Music Theory and CompositionMaster’s degree · Online or on campusWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Music Performance, GeneralMusic TechnologyMusic, GeneralVoice and OperaJazz/Jazz StudiesConductingKeyboard InstrumentsThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | — | $33,453 | — |
| Dallas Baptist UniversityTX · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Music Theory and CompositionBachelor’s degree · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Vermont College of Fine ArtsVT · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Music Theory and CompositionMaster’s degree · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Washington State UniversityWA · PublicRequest information → | Music Theory and CompositionMaster’s degree · Fully onlineWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Music, GeneralMusic Performance, GeneralThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| University of IdahoID · PublicRequest information → | Music Theory and CompositionMaster’s degree · Fully onlineWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Music, GeneralMusic Performance, GeneralVoice and OperaThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | Not reported | Not reported | — |
Source: College Scorecard, Field of Study (retrieved September 2026)
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One thing these figures cannot tell you
Earnings and debt are reported by the federal government at a four-digit program level, so a figure shown against “Audio and Music Production” covers every related program at that institution rather than one named degree. That pooling also spans delivery: where a school runs the same credential both online and on campus, the federal figures combine both sets of students. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. Full methodology.