About
Musicians Institute (MI) is a private for-profit music school in Los Angeles, California. MI students can earn Certificates and – with transfer of coursework taken at Los Angeles City College – Associate of Arts Degrees, as well as Bachelor of Music Degrees in either Performance or Composition. The college was founded in 1977.
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
Non-Pell students graduate at a 6.0-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 10 Title IV programs, 1 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 9 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing1 · 10.0%
- No Data9 · 90.0%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
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.
Near the line (±5%)
Programs within five points of the pass line, one cohort year from flipping.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
National Association of Schools of Music, Commission on Accreditation
Action history · 1
- Dec 2019Renewal of AccreditationNational Association of Schools of Music, Commission on Accreditation
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, 290 students received $980K in Pell grants, alongside $2.9M 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 319 borrowers who entered repayment, 2 (0.6%) 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 Musicians Institute
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 property1
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.
Musicians Institute vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Musicians Institute 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectMusicians Institute | 53% | — | 824 | $37,793 | — |
Interior Designers Institute | 100% | — | 102 | — | — |
Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art | 100% | — | 2 | — | — |
SAE Institute of Technology-Nashville | — | — | 1,712 | $21,299 | — |
Sessions College for Professional Design | — | 85.7% | 194 | $15,156 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
The Modern College of Design | — | 91.7% | 214 | $34,709 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Walnut Hill College | — | 42.7% | 175 | $33,578 | — |
| Peer group median | 100% | 85.7% | 194 | $33,578 |
Reports & documents (1)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
Grants & funding (8)
Federal grant awards and open funding opportunities awarded to this institution.
- opportunityThe Musicians Foundation Bass ScholarshipMusicians Foundationinstitution_site$10,000
- opportunityThe Musicians Foundation Drum ScholarshipMusicians Foundationinstitution_site$10,000
- opportunityThe Musicians Foundation Guitar ScholarshipMusicians Foundationinstitution_site$10,000
- opportunityThe Musicians Foundation Keyboard ScholarshipMusicians Foundationinstitution_site$10,000
- opportunityThe Musicians Foundation Vocal ScholarshipMusicians Foundationinstitution_site$10,000
- opportunitySteve Robinson Metal of Honor Veteran's Performance ScholarshipMusicians Instituteinstitution_site$1,000
- opportunityThe Musicians Foundation Helping Hand ScholarshipMusicians Foundationinstitution_site$1,000
- opportunityOpportunity ScholarshipMusicians Instituteinstitution_site
Notable alumni of Musicians Institute (19)
A curated list of alumni recognized for notable achievements across industries.
- Sharon AguilarMusic
- Howard AldenMusic
- Juan AldereteMusic
- Jennifer BattenMusic
- Jeff BerlinMusic
- Jeff BuckleyMusic
- Joacim CansMusic
- Tanya ChuaMusic
- Rivers CuomoMusic
- John FruscianteMusic
- Synyster GatesMusic
- Paul GilbertMusic
Frequently asked questions about Musicians Institute
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Musicians Institute.
What is the graduation rate at Musicians Institute?
How many students attend Musicians Institute?
What is the average net price at Musicians Institute?
What is the yield rate at Musicians Institute?
Where is Musicians Institute located?
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