Skip Navigation
Search

Music M.A. (Composition)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Upon completion of the degree, students should be able to compose music at a professional level with a compelling and personal aesthetic.

2. Upon completion of the degree, students should be able to have a command of compositional techniques, including orchestration, counterpoint, and professional-level presentation of scores and parts.

3. Upon completion of the degree, students should have a solid knowledge of Western Classical music of the 20th- and 21st-Centuries, including current trends and developments.

4. Upon completion of the degree, students should be able to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, 20th- and 21st-Centuries Western Classical music.

SUCCESS RATES

75.0%

8-year graduation rate

2.27

Avg. years to degree

MEDIAN EARNINGS

$59,755

10 years after graduation

$44,003

5 years after graduation

$27,275

1 year after graduation

PLACEMENT2 years after graduation

71.9%

Working in New York

75.0%

Continuing Education

Notes

Graduation rates: the percent of students entering the master’s program any time during the academic year and graduating by May 31 three years later. Methodology is parallel to AAU Data Exchange doctoral completion rates and means that spring entrants have less time to complete. Average of three most recent reporting years (2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24) Years to degree: the average number of years it takes a student to complete the selected program. Average of the three most recent completion years (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23). No Asterisk-Earnings: the median annual earnings of graduates in the selected program at the master’s degree level based on the 2-digit CIP code at 1, 5 and 10 years after graduation. U.S. Census, Postsecondary Enrollment Outcomes Explorer. Degree completers from 2001-2018 in 2020 dollars. Asterisk- Earnings: the median annual earnings of graduates in the selected program at the master’s degree level at 1, 5 and 10 years after graduation. SUNY Graduates Post Completions Interactive Dashboard. Degree completers from 2005-2019 in 2020 dollars. Working in NY State: the percent of graduates working in New York State two years after graduation. SUNY Wages Dashboard, includes graduates from 2015-18. Most recent available data from SUNY as of January 31, 2024