Best Musician programs in Kentucky, ranked by enrollment
Play one or more musical instruments or sing.
15 schools in Kentucky run programs that feed this job, graduating 217 people a year. The job pays a median of — in Kentucky across about 130 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Kentucky that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
7 programs in Kentucky that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Kentucky (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Kentucky page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Music, Generalmain feeder CIP 50.0901In Kentucky → | 161 | 74.2% | 12 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 2 | Music Performance, Generalmain feeder CIP 50.0903In Kentucky → | 46 | 21.2% | 5 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 3 | Music, Othermain feeder CIP 50.0999In Kentucky → | 5 | 2.3% | 2 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 4 | Brass Instrumentsmain feeder CIP 50.0914In Kentucky → | 2 | 0.9% | 1 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 5 | Voice and Operamain feeder CIP 50.0908In Kentucky → | 1 | 0.5% | 1 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 6 | Music Pedagogymain feeder CIP 50.0912In Kentucky → | 1 | 0.5% | 1 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 7 | CIP 50.0509In Kentucky → | 1 | 0.5% | 1 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
Top 15 schools in Kentucky
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 7 of the 15 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Louisville Louisville, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 54 | Music, General | $20,125 | 61% | — | 79% |
| 2 | University of Kentucky Lexington, KY Public · 6 feeder programs | 38 | Music Performance, General | $17,040 | 71% | — | 93% |
| 3 | Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Music, General | $30,106 | 50% | — | 78% |
| 4 | Morehead State University Morehead, KY Public · 3 feeder programs | 20 | Music, General | $31,088 | 52% | — | 77% |
| 5 | Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY Public · 2 feeder programs | 17 | Music Performance, General | $34,766 | 56% | — | 94% |
| 6 | Murray State University Murray, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Music, General | $34,098 | 61% | — | 86% |
| 7 | Bellarmine University Louisville, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Music, General | — | 64% | $22,542 | 86% |
| 8 | Campbellsville University Campbellsville, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Music Performance, General | — | 42% | $18,824 | 80% |
| 9 | Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Music, General | $34,428 | 52% | — | 68% |
| 10 | Asbury University Wilmore, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Music, General | — | 65% | $19,816 | 63% |
| 11 | Kentucky State University Frankfort, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Music, General | — | 32% | — | 96% |
| 12 | Simmons College of Kentucky Louisville, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Music, General | — | 14% | $21,102 | 100% |
| 13 | University of the Cumberlands Williamsburg, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Music, General | — | 50% | $11,672 | 99% |
| 14 | Berea College Berea, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Music, General | — | 58% | $5,274 | 19% |
| 15 | Transylvania University Lexington, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Music Performance, General | — | 71% | $21,881 | 87% |
All 15 schools in Kentucky
Every school in Kentucky with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Louisville | Louisville | Public | 54 | 1 |
| University of Kentucky | Lexington | Public | 38 | 6 |
| Eastern Kentucky University | Richmond | Public | 27 | 1 |
| Morehead State University | Morehead | Public | 20 | 3 |
| Western Kentucky University | Bowling Green | Public | 17 | 2 |
| Murray State University | Murray | Public | 16 | 1 |
| Bellarmine University | Louisville | Private not-for-profit | 14 | 1 |
| Campbellsville University | Campbellsville | Private not-for-profit | 10 | 1 |
| Northern Kentucky University | Highland Heights | Public | 7 | 1 |
| Asbury University | Wilmore | Private not-for-profit | 6 | 1 |
| Kentucky State University | Frankfort | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Simmons College of Kentucky | Louisville | Private not-for-profit | 2 | 1 |
| University of the Cumberlands | Williamsburg | Private not-for-profit | 2 | 1 |
| Berea College | Berea | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
| Transylvania University | Lexington | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
What musicians and singers earn in Kentucky
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
BLS publishes an hourly wage only for this occupation. The work is intermittent, so no annual figure is estimated.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Kentucky, by employment
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Musicians and Singers page.
How to become a Musician
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- No formal educational credential
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Kentucky
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 12 majors mapped to Musicians and Singers12 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 50.0509Musical Theatre
- 50.0901Music, General
- 50.0903Music Performance, General
- 50.0907Keyboard Instruments
- 50.0908Voice and Opera
- 50.0910Jazz/Jazz Studies
- 50.0911Stringed Instruments
- 50.0912Music Pedagogy
- 50.0914Brass Instruments
- 50.0915Woodwind Instruments
- 50.0916Percussion Instruments
- 50.0999Music, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing musicians and singers programs in Kentucky.
What degree do you need to become a Musician?+
No formal educational credential is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Music, General, which awarded 161 degrees in Kentucky in 2024-25, 74.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Musician?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 7 programs to this occupation. The largest are Music, Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. Together they graduate about 217 people a year in Kentucky.
Is demand for musicians and singers growing?+
BLS projects a +1.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 19,400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Kentucky?+
15 institutions in Kentucky reported graduates from at least one of the 7 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do musicians and singers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Singer, Musician, Violinist, Choir Member among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-2042.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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