Can i do a 4 year applied music degree at one university & then do a music education degree at another school?
January 28, 2012 by
Filed under online education degree
Can i do a 4 year applied music degree at one university & then do a music education degree at another school? And then be a music teacher?
I don’t see why not. Each are 4 year programs. If you want to be a teacher though, I’d suggest just going for a music ed. degree, since all you need is a music ed. degree to become a music teacher.
Yes. To become a teacher, you need the license and at least a bachelor’s degree. If you do a bachelor’s degree, you will be able to get into a master’s program and earn your license in graduate school.
You could also teach, if you get a BA in education, though. You make less money, but you get out quicker.
You can do two bachelor’s if you’d like and much of the music performance degree will apply to the music education degree. Problem is that there’s no real financial aid out there for those getting a second bachelor’s degree.
You’d want to do the second degree as a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) with an emphasis in Music Education. It’s a very common pathway in music and one of the reasons that most music teachers tend to have a master’s degree.
http://music.unc.edu/mat is an example of the program at UNC-Chapel Hill. It’s pretty standard at most schools. The requirement will be a bachelor’s degree in music (a bachelor’s degree in music education would lead to the MEd degree in music ed), an audition (not as demanding as a performance major’s senior recital), piano/keyboard exam, theory/history exam, and an interview/references. Many will require the GRE or MAT exam.
Most MAT programs are 1.5 years with 1 year of coursework and a semester of student teaching. Some manage to wrap it into 12 months by using summer sessions.
Music is a preK-12 certificate in most states and is specialized. It works a bit differently than many other teacher certifications.