Top Music Programs in Kentucky by Earnings (2026)
Updated
Part of Best Art & Design Colleges in Kentucky
This page ranks the 8 Music programs in Kentucky by the median earnings of Music graduates four years after completing. Northern Kentucky University leads the list at $47,343, followed by Morehead State University at $40,768 and University of Kentucky at $39,746.
The gap between the top two is $6,575. Across the listed schools, median earnings range from $47,343 to $23,579, and the median of those figures is $38,772.
For 1 of the 8 programs the figure is the two-year completion median rather than the four-year one.
Public institutions account for 7 of the 8 schools, or 88% of the list. Northern Kentucky University posts the lowest average net price at $8,191, while University of Louisville ranks 207th on Azimuth's composite ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions.
Western Kentucky University has the highest admission rate, admitting 94% of applicants.
The ranked list
| Rank | School | Program Earnings | Average net price | Net price, families under $30K | Admission rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Kentucky University · Highland Heights, KY | $47,343 | $8,191 | $2,603 | 67.7% |
| Northern Kentucky University reports $47,343 in median earnings for its Music graduates four years after completing, the highest figure on this list. | |||||
| 2 | Morehead State University · Morehead, KY | $40,768 | $9,793 | $7,150 | 77.2% |
| Morehead State University admits 77% of applicants and its Music completers who borrowed left with a median federal debt of $25,000. | |||||
| 3 | University of Kentucky · Lexington, KY | $39,746 | $18,851 | $12,182 | 92.9% |
| University of Kentucky ranks 3rd on this list and posts an average net price of $18,851. | |||||
| 4 | University of Louisville · Louisville, KY | $39,168 | $17,988 | $15,138 | 79.4% |
| Median earnings of $39,168 four years after completing coincide with University of Louisville holding the strongest Azimuth composite rank on the page, 207th among nonprofit four-year institutions. | |||||
| 5 | Western Kentucky University · Bowling Green, KY | $38,377 | $10,990 | $7,087 | 93.9% |
| Western Kentucky University admits 94% of applicants, with 38 graduates in its Music earnings cohort. | |||||
| 6 | Eastern Kentucky University · Richmond, KY | $37,673 | $11,040 | $8,591 | 77.6% |
| Eastern Kentucky University shows median federal debt of $19,315 among its Music completers who borrowed, and its graduates earned a median of $37,673 four years after completing. | |||||
| 7 | Murray State University · Murray, KY | $36,697 | $9,096 | $6,242 | 85.7% |
| Murray State University reports an average net price of $9,096 and an admission rate of 86%. | |||||
| 8 | Bellarmine University · Louisville, KY | $23,579 | $21,499 | $18,430 | 86.1% |
| Bellarmine University, a private nonprofit university in Louisville, posts median earnings of $23,579 for its Music graduates four years after completing. | |||||
How this list is ordered
Programs are ordered by the median earnings of their Music graduates four years after completing, highest first. Only programs with a reported earnings cohort in Kentucky appear. The figure captures federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled, measured four years after they finished. For 1 of the 8 listed programs the figure is the two-year completion median rather than the four-year one. The metric does not adjust for graduate school enrollment, cost of attendance, or the characteristics of the students a program admits, and it is not a measure of teaching quality. The range and median below cover the 8 schools with a published figure. Northern Kentucky University leads Morehead State University by $6,575, and the spread from the top of the list to the bottom reaches $23,764.
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