Music at Ohio University-Eastern Campus

Ohio University-Eastern's music program achieves something rare: graduates earn $36,252 in their first year—outperforming 83% of music programs nationally—while carrying debt slightly below average. That $27,000 debt load equals less than nine months of income, making this one of the better debt-to-earnings ratios you'll find in music education. Within Ohio, earnings sit at the 60th percentile, which means this program lands solidly in the middle tier statewide but punches well above its weight nationally.

The caveat here is minimal earnings growth: graduates see only a 3% increase over four years, suggesting early income peaks. Still, when we're talking about music degrees, starting near $36,000 puts graduates in a fundamentally different financial position than the national median of just $26,000. That $10,000 gap matters enormously for monthly budgets and loan payments.

For families concerned about the financial viability of a music degree, this program makes a stronger case than most. The debt is manageable, the starting salary exceeds what most music graduates achieve, and the numbers suggest graduates are finding actual employment in their field rather than struggling in unrelated work. Just understand that year one earnings likely represent the ceiling, not the floor.