Bachelor in Music (Bachelor's)

For Bachelor in Music (Bachelor's), tuition is Tuition for the 2024–2025 academic year is $62,000 per year..

This programme prepares students for careers in music performance, research, and composition. Students develop practical skills through private lessons and public performances on a wide range of instruments. The curriculum emphasizes music theory, history, and ethnomusicology with a focus on diverse cultural traditions. Students complete a senior thesis that may include performance, composition, or analytical research.

Focus areas include Music Theory, Music History, Ethnomusicology, Musical Composition, Electroacoustic Composition, Tango Music.

The programme requires 36 credits in music courses, including private instruction, theory, history, and ethnomusicology. Students complete a senior thesis in the final year, which can be a research project, performance, or creative composition with supporting documentation.

Graduates pursue roles such as orchestra librarians, audiovisual technicians, violinists, professors of music, and media arts professionals.

Applicants must submit transcripts, a personal statement, and a music audition. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is recommended. International students must provide English proficiency test scores.

The programme totals about 36 credit hours. On-campus, full-time, four-year programme. For international students, tuition is well above the median for US programmes. The institution admits about 27% of applicants.

Reed's liberal arts tradition has grown around broad study, close faculty mentorship, and sustained inquiry. Students share Humanities 110, a signature program examining how people in different historical contexts have addressed fundamental questions about existence, then study deeply in a major. Research begins early: undergraduates collaborate with faculty, work in labs, participate in archaeological fieldwork, conduct canopy research, or volunteer in the nuclear reactor. Summer fellowships and grants can support campus projects, travel, and research abroad. In the final year, every student undertakes a senior thesis, working with a faculty adviser on experiments, primary-source research, or another major-based project that remains in Reed's Thesis Tower.

The Portland campus combines green open space with places for study and community. Reed Canyon is a 28-acre watershed with a lake, trees, and the Blue Bridge, while lawns and Old Dorm Block sit against views of the Portland skyline. Downtown Portland is a short bike ride away, and students can plan trips to the college's ski cabin on Mount Hood. International applicants apply as a specific applicant type through the Common Application or Coalition for College Application and complete a Reed writing supplement. Reed does not use SAT or ACT results in admission review. TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo is strongly encouraged for applicants who do not speak English at home or whose school teaches in another language; international interviews are by invitation only. Admitted international students receive financial aid meeting 100 percent of demonstrated need for all four years.