As part of the series on How to Fully Fund Your Ph.D., here is a list of PhD programs in music that offer full funding to their students. A PhD in Music and related disciplines opens the door to a variety of interesting careers. You could work as a performance artist, university professor, or composer, among many options.
“Full funding” is a financial aid package for students that includes full tuition remission and an annual stipend or salary for the duration of the student’s doctoral studies. Full funding is not universal, so it’s essential that you research the financial aid offerings of all the potential Ph.D. programs in your academic field, including small and lesser-known schools.
You can also find several external fellowships in the ProFellow database for graduate and doctoral study, including opportunities for funding for dissertation research, fieldwork, language study, and summer work experiences.
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List of Universities offering fully funded PhD Programs in Music
Brandeis University, PhD in Musicology or Musical Composition and Theory
(Waltham, MA): Funding includes a competitive fellowship, a full-tuition scholarship, and health insurance benefits for five years. All doctoral candidates teach some semesters as part of their academic program.
Brown University, PhD in Music
(Providence, RI): All Ph.D. students receive full funding for 5 years, including costs for tuition and health insurance, plus stipends for fellowships and teaching assistantships.
City University of New York, DMA or PhD in Music
(New York, NY): All students admitted into the Graduate Center music programs will receive tuition remission. Most Ph.D. and several D.M.A. students will receive a 5-year Graduate Center Fellowship.
Cornell University, PhD in Musicology
(Ithaca, NY): Students accepted into the Ph.D. program are guaranteed five full years of financial support, in the form of two years of fellowships (usually taken in the first and fifth years) and three years of teaching assistantships.
Duke University, PhD in Composition, Ethnomusicology, or Musicology
(Durham, NC): All admitted students to the graduate program in the Duke Department of Music receive a Fellowship, which includes full tuition and an income stipend for the five years of the program. Click here for more info.
Georgia Institute of Technology, PhD in Music Technology
(Atlanta, GA): Our Ph.D. in Music Technology is a fully funded program, including a monthly stipend and tuition waiver. In this program, our students focus on novel research with a broad impact on music, collaborating with faculty on a variety of topics.
Harvard University, PhD in Music
(Boston, MA): Graduate students are awarded five years of guaranteed funding (including living expenses) when accepted to a Ph.D. program. This funding includes two years of paid teaching as a Teaching Fellow and a fully-funded, teaching-free year in which to complete the dissertation.
Princeton University, PhD in Musicology and Ph.D. in Composition
(Princeton, NJ): All Music Department graduate students receive a tuition scholarship and a 12-month stipend for the full five years of the program. After the five-year program, students are eligible to be nominated by the graduate school for sixth-year funding.
Stanford University, DMA in Composition, PhD in Music
(Stanford, CA): In the first year, all students receive full tuition and a fellowship stipend. During years 2-5, students receive tuition and a salaried assistantship. Two summers are also provided for and include tuition and a salary as a research assistant.
University of Pittsburgh, PhD in Music
(Pittsburgh, PA): All graduate students are fully funded with a fellowship or assistantship for five years. Teaching Fellowships provide a full tuition scholarship, health insurance, and a stipend of about $19,180.
Boston University, PhD in Musicology
(Boston, MA): All newly admitted PhD in Musicology students will receive a 5-year fellowship which may be a combination of a Non-Service Fellowship, Teaching Fellowship, or Research Fellowship.
University of California Berkeley, PhD in Music
(Berkeley, CA): Graduates of the Berkeley Music Students are supported by fellowships and teaching opportunities. A typical funding package consists of an annual stipend of $30,000, plus covered tuition, health insurance, and student fees, guaranteed for five years.
Northwestern University, PhD in Music
(Evanston, Illinois): All students who enroll in one of the PhD degree programs in music receive a full tuition waiver for five years, a monthly living stipend, and a subsidy to cover 100% of the premium for Northwestern student health insurance.
University of Chicago, PhD in Music
(Chicago, Illinois): The three fields of study are Composition, Music History and Theory, and Ethnomusicology. PhD students will be guaranteed to have funding support from the University of Chicago, external sources or a combination of the two for the duration of their program to include the following: Full tuition coverage, Annual stipend, and Fully paid individual annual premiums for UChicago’s student health insurance.
New York University Steinhardt, PhD in Music Technology
(New York, NY): If you are accepted as a full-time NYU Steinhardt PhD student without an alternate funding source, you are eligible for our competitive funding package, which includes a scholarship and tuition remission.
University of Pennsylvania, PhD in Music
(Philadelphia, PA): All Ph.D. students accepted to the program receive the Benjamin Franklin Fellowship, which covers tuition, general fees, and health insurance for either 4 (Composition) or 5 years (Music Studies: ethnomusicology, historical musicology, music theory).
Case Western Reserve University, PhD in Musicology
(Cleveland, Ohio): All admitted students receive full tuition support and a generous stipend. Each student receives support through a fellowship carrying a generous stipend and tuition waiver. Graduate assistantship duties require service of approximately ten hours per week and include teaching assistantships and research assistantships.
University of Michigan, PhD in Music
(Ann Arbor, MI): Nearly all DMA and PhD students receive full-tuition fellowships for full-time study. Most also receive health benefits and a stipend attached to a Graduate Student Assistantship, which can vary depending on the appointment fraction and corresponding duties.
Washington University in St. Louis, PhD in Music
(St. Louis, MO): All students accepted for the Ph.D. program receive generous six-year funding packages, with additional support for language study, research, and conference travel. Fellowships and teaching assistantships for doctoral students in the 2020-2021 stipend is $23,360 for the fall and spring semesters.
Yale University, PhD in Music
(New Haven, Connecticut): A minimum of five years is needed to complete the requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Funding is guaranteed for five years. Students making demonstrated progress on their dissertations after five years are eligible for the sixth year of funding.
Need some tips for the application process? See my article How To Get Into a Fully Funded PhD Program: Contacting Potential PhD Advisors.
Hope you will find your desired university from this list of universities offering fully funded PhD Programs in Music. Also, sign up to discover and bookmark more than 2300 professional and academic fellowships in the ProFellow database.
Last updated August 28, 2022
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