Manhattan School of Music
About
The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical performance, jazz performance, contemporary performance, composition, and conducting, as well as a bachelor's in musical theatre.
Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Pell recipients graduate at a higher rate than non-Pell students here — unusual and worth investigating.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 6 Title IV programs, 0 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 2 fail. 4 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing0 · 0.0%
- No Data4 · 66.7%
- Failing2 · 33.3%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
Action history · 2
- Jan 2021Approved for Distance EducationMiddle States Commission on Higher Education
- Jun 2018Renewal of AccreditationMiddle States Commission on Higher Education
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 85 students received $500K in Pell grants, alongside $10.5M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 121 borrowers who entered repayment, 1 (0.8%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at Manhattan School of Music
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- Public property2
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Manhattan School of Music vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Manhattan School of Music selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectManhattan School of Music | 78% | — | 1,084 | $47,599 | — |
American Film Institute Conservatory | — | — | 379 | — | — |
Art Academy of Cincinnati | 41% | 34.5% | 213 | $38,041 | — |
Boston Architectural College | 32% | — | 853 | $37,891 | — |
California College of ASU | 37% | 49.5% | 71 | $30,320 | — |
California College of the Arts | 61% | 91.1% | 1,308 | $42,168 | — |
California Jazz Conservatory | 100% | 66.7% | 6 | — | — |
Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science | — | — | 107 | — | — |
Cleveland Institute of Art | 58% | 61.3% | 545 | $41,480 | — |
Cleveland Institute of Music | 72% | 47.3% | 293 | $32,623 | — |
College for Creative Studies | 71% | 91.9% | 1,433 | $33,342 | — |
Columbus College of Art & Design | 56% | 67.7% | 916 | $30,139 | — |
Cornish College of the Arts | 56% | 62.2% | 505 | $39,060 | — |
Cranbrook Academy of Art | — | — | 113 | — | — |
Curtis Institute of Music | 100% | 4.6% | 161 | — | — |
Kansas City Art Institute | 58% | 54.8% | 813 | $29,555 | — |
Laguna College of Art and Design | 52% | 94.3% | 775 | $42,354 | — |
Longy School of Music of Bard College | — | 84.4% | 317 | $43,291 | — |
Maine College of Art & Design | 52% | 76.1% | 475 | $36,443 | — |
Maine Media College | — | — | 42 | — | — |
Maryland Institute College of Art | 72% | 76.8% | 1,687 | $38,429 | — |
Massachusetts College of Art and Design | 69% | 76.3% | 1,989 | $23,764 | — |
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design | 67% | 60.5% | 838 | $27,514 | — |
Minneapolis College of Art and Design | 51% | 48.5% | 831 | $25,935 | — |
Moore College of Art and Design | 57% | 56.5% | 549 | $43,369 | — |
New York Academy of Art | — | — | 106 | — | — |
New York School of Interior Design | 71% | 62.9% | 573 | $41,358 | — |
Otis College of Art and Design | 66% | 81.8% | 1,267 | $45,864 | — |
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts | 58% | — | 41 | $45,022 | — |
Pennsylvania College of Art and Design | 69% | 99.2% | 414 | $29,266 | — |
Pratt Institute-Main | 74% | 73.3% | 5,356 | $50,647 | — |
Ringling College of Art and Design | 72% | 69.7% | 1,666 | $55,390 | — |
San Francisco Conservatory of Music | 74% | 54.9% | 439 | $42,448 | — |
School of the Art Institute of Chicago | 67% | 77.5% | 3,394 | $49,822 | — |
The Juilliard School | 91% | 9.2% | 1,073 | $37,903 | — |
The New England Conservatory of Music | 73% | 41.1% | 853 | $42,556 | — |
University of North Carolina School of the Arts | 78% | 30.0% | 1,111 | $12,372 | — |
University of the Arts | 69% | 78.2% | — | $44,154 | — |
| Peer group median | 68% | 64.8% | 573 | $39,060 |
Reports & documents (2)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
- DFR reportIPEDS Data Feedback Report 20242024nces.ed.gov
- Strategic planMSM Strategic Plan 2024–292023The Manhattan School of Music's Strategic Plan for 2024-29 aims to guide the institution through key initiatives over the next five years. The plan is divided into Foundational Initiatives, focusing on infrastructure and enrollment security, and Bold Moves that aim to innovate the conservatory experience and bolster financial strength. Key priorities include enhancing classroom technology, expanding online education, strengthening student pipelines, and increasing financial resilience to ensure MSM continues to nurture excellence in music education.msmnyc.edu
Frequently asked questions about Manhattan School of Music
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Manhattan School of Music.
What is the graduation rate at Manhattan School of Music?
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