Master of Arts in Music Education

General Requirements

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution

• Minimum GPA 3.00

• Official transcripts

• Good academic standing at the last institution attended

Program-Specific Requirements

• An undergraduate degree in music is highly desired

• Applicants should have some teaching experience in a public school, community or church setting or through private instruction

• Three letters of recommendation

• Personal statement

• A request will be sent out by the department for an audition upon submitting your application via Cal State Apply

• Submission of a portfolio of work and/or interview (depending on the area requirements).

Out-of-State Eligibility

• If you live outside of California, check whether our program is approved to accept an application from you.

• An English language proficiency test (TOEFL, IELTS or PTE) is required if a student's baccalaureate was earned outside of the US. The minimum entrance score for the TOEFL is 590 (paper based), 243 (computer based) or 96 (internet based), with a score of 5 in the Writing Section, while the minimum score for the PTE is 68, the IELTS is 7.0.  All test scores must be less than 2 years old. Test scores must be sent directly from the Educational Testing Service office to SJSU (institution code is 4687).

Graduation Requirements

• Complete 30 semester units of approved graduate coursework.

• Maintain a 3.0 GPA or better across all letter-graded graduate coursework.

• Fulfill the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement by completing MUSC 200.

• Complete and publish a master’s thesis, a master's project or pass all sections of the Written Culminating Exams (WCE) evaluating your grasp of music history, theory and music education.