PhD Music Education at University of South Carolina

Programme overview

Apply your own areas of specialization while pursuing scholarly research and developing the knowledge and skills to effectively improve music teaching in schools and universities in our doctoral program. Join a research-oriented degree program in collaboration with the USC College of Education designed for music students preparing to become music administrators, teachers and researchers able to think abstractly, generalize knowledge, carry on research and apply results to their areas of specialization. A dissertation is required.

Faculty: School of Music | Duration: 36 credit hours | Study mode: full-time | Location: Columbia, SC, United States

What you will study

Courses include music education, music history, theory, educational statistics, qualitative inquiry methods and applied music instruction. Students will demonstrate a record of successful teaching in elementary or secondary schools and offer evidence of academic excellence and ongoing scholarly inquiry with the ability to conduct independent research.

Career pathways

Potential careers include Educator, Professor, Faculty, Researcher, Administrator.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Admissions (University of South Carolina Academic Bulletin): The general requirements for admission are a master’s degree in music education (or the equivalent); satisfactory score on the general section (verbal/quantitative/analytical) of the GRE or the Miller Analogies Test; master’s thesis or equivalent demonstration of the ability to undertake and complete significant, original scholarly work; evidence of successful full-time teaching at the elementary or secondary level (a minimum of three years and an expectation of five years); 30-minute teaching video; an interview; and fulfillment of the general requirements for admission to The Graduate School, including the submission of three recommendations preferably written on School of Music forms. Applicants whose native language is not English are also required to submit a satisfactory score on the TOEFL, the IELTS Intl. Academic Course Type 2 exam, or the Duolingo exam. The minimum acceptable...

Tuition is charged per credit, so the total depends on the modules you register for each year. Current fees are listed in the official fee schedule.

Graduate applications are accepted for Fall, Spring and Summer terms; Fall applications open the prior September, Spring applications open in January and Summer applications open in May.

The graduate application fee is $50 per primary application, reinstated effective August 1, 2026. Deadlines are programme-specific and listed per programme on the Degree Programs and Application Requirements pages.

Apply through the official page: https://www.sc.edu/admissions-at-sc/applications/index.php

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