DMA Music Composition at Arizona State University

Programme overview

The Doctor of Musical Arts program in music with a concentration in music composition is a comprehensive professional degree program if you are an outstanding student of acoustic, electronic and multimedia composition. You develop your own compositional voice and focus on your area of interest, regardless of style or aesthetics, while gaining extensive knowledge through coursework and private lessons with faculty.

What you will study

90 credit hours, a foreign language exam, a written comprehensive exam, an oral comprehensive exam, a prospectus and a dissertation The credit requirements for the degree are distributed as follows: major area (composition, music technology, electives) (36 credit hours) music theory and music history (30 credit hours) research (12 credit hours) dissertation (12 credit hours) The music composition concentration requires the creation of a significant original work of music (considered to be a dissertation) and either two article-length research papers or a substantial paper.

Career pathways

The School of Music, Dance and Theatre graduate programs inspire and empower graduates to become creative leaders who transform society through music. Musicians with expertise in performing, composing, teaching and researching, and in arts advocacy, are in high demand across many sectors. Career examples: arts administrator, community arts advocate, composer for film, video games or television, performing musician, public or community school teacher, university professor.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Applicants must fulfill the requirements of both the Graduate College and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. Applicants must have earned a U.S. bachelor's degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution or the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree from an institution in another country that is officially recognized by that country. Applicants must have achieved a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours of a bachelor's degree program, or a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program. All applicants must submit: graduate admission application and application fee School of Music, Dance and Theatre application , including a resume and personal statement official transcripts prescreening portfolio three letters of recommendation proof of English proficiency Additional Application Information An applicant whose native language is not English must provide proof of English proficiency regardless of their current residency.

Domestic applicants: USD 13,327 a year (2026-27). Arizona resident tuition. Tuition only for the graduate on-campus (Tempe/Downtown Phoenix/Polytechnic/West Valley) rate band in the ASU tuition estimator, 2026-27: Fall 2026 plus Spring 2027 term tuition summed (full-time flat rate; part-time credit loads Source

International applicants: USD 24,780 a year (2026-27). International tuition. Tuition only for the graduate on-campus (Tempe/Downtown Phoenix/Polytechnic/West Valley) rate band in the ASU tuition estimator, 2026-27: Fall 2026 plus Spring 2027 term tuition summed (full-time flat rate; part-time credit loads ar Source

Entry terms: Fall, Spring and Summer; the terms available for each programme are listed in Degree Search.

Graduate application deadlines are set by each programme office and listed in Degree Search. The nonrefundable application fee is $75 for U.S. citizens, permanent residents, DACA and international online students outside the U.S., and $120 for international students on a nonimmigrant visa studying in the U.S.

Apply through the official page: https://admission.asu.edu/apply/graduate/admission

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