School of Music - University of Missouri

Home | Graduate Program | Master of Education (MEd) (Music Education) | Master of Arts (MA) in Education (Music Education)

Master of Education (MEd) (Music Education)

Requirements

Resources
Graduate Teaching Assistantship Application (pdf)
MU Graduate School (apply online)
Admission information

Wendy Sims
Director of Music Education
School of Music
268 Fine Arts Building
Columbia, MO 65211-6120
email: SimsW@missouri.edu
phone: 573-882-3238

Master’s degrees in music education are offered through the College of Education’s Department of Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum and are fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. The MEd with a major in Music Education is a practice-oriented degree, designed to meet the needs of professionals interested in advancing their careers, knowledge, and skills in music education, regardless of level or specialization. This may be completed either by full-time teachers attending classes part time during evenings and full time during summers, or by traditional, full-time graduate students. Students who hold a BA or BM in music may pursue teacher certification simultaneously while working on the MEd.

This degree requires 32 credit hours.  At least 16 hours must be taken in education/music education, and 16 must be numbered 8000 or above (one course may be counted in both categories: i.e., LTC 8900 can be used in both).

Music Education Coursework (13-18 credit hours)

Required:
LTC 8900: Seminar: Research and Measurement in Music Education (3 credits)

Additional music education courses as determined by student and advisor, from among the courses listed below, and depending on course availability (3 credits each, unless noted otherwise):

  • LTC 8840: Foundations of Music Education           
  • LTC 8820: Advanced Techniques in Music Education - General Music                
  • LTC 8823: Advanced Techniques in Music Education - Early Childhood             
  • LTC 8825: Administration and Supervision of Music Programs               
  • LTC 8900: Seminar: Psychology of Music Performance           
  • LTC 8900: Seminars with varying topics, such as Current Issues in Music Education, Implementing National Standards K-12, Diversity Issues in Music Education           
  • LTC 8085, 8940, 8941: Problems, In-Service Course, or Internship (individual study courses) (1-3 credits)
  • Professional Education Coursework (3-6 credits)
  • At least one course (3 credits) must be taken in Educational Psychology, Philosophy, or Sociology. One additional course (3 credits) may count toward the degree as an elective.

Music Coursework (11-16 credit hours)

Required:

  • Music Theory and History: 9 credits, at least one course from each area
  • Applied Music, Music Techniques, or Conducting: 2 credits from one of these areas

Electives in Music (0-5 credits)

Examinations

Written comprehensive examinations are administered by the music education faculty, comprising take-home projects and essays based on synthesis of aspects of the coursework completed in the Music Education area, and application of the coursework completed in the Studies in Music component of the degree program to their current or future classrooms.

Master of Arts (MA) in Education (Music Education)

Requirements

The MA in Music Education, offered through the College of Education, is both research and practice based, designed to meet the needs of music teachers who not only are interested in advancing their careers, knowledge, and skills in school music education, but also who have an interest in pursuing research, often with aspirations to complete a doctorate in music education sometime in the future. The degree may be completed part time during evenings and full time during summers by full-time teachers, but is more often completed by traditional, full-time graduate study.

The requirements for the MA Ed are similar to the MEd (above) with these differences:

  • One course in statistics (if not taken as an undergraduate)
  • LTC 8900 Seminar: Research and Measurement in Music Education
  • A thesis or publishable research project (5 credit hours) including an oral examination/defense