Prospective Students
About the Program
WSU’s music education experience is well-rounded and designed to prepare you for a lifetime of teaching in the music classroom. Our faculty have hands-on experience in the field, are knowledgeable about current research and trends, and are innovative in their approach to teaching future music educators.
Gaining experience as an educator can be difficult prior to your first job. We believe that it is imperative to give you experiences that will prepare you for your career throughout our entire program. This includes courses designed to give you the technical knowledge to be a great teacher, field experiences of observation and teaching, and regular teaching opportunities across all of your music education courses.
Those that leave our program and are seeking employment find it. We are happy to have WSU grads as educators throughout the west coast and Northwest Region.
Although we will make you work to be the best educator you can, the responsibility is ultimately on you to take advantage of your opportunities and push yourself to become the very best musician and educator you can be. Our faculty is there to encourage, push, and support you to achieve everything you can.
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Program Goals
- Prepare students for the classroom with a breadth of skill and knowledge. This will allow our students to serve their students, community, and co-workers well.
- Create a sense of lifelong learning. The music classroom and the education system are constantly evolving. While we wish to have confident educators we also want to instill a sense of creativity and wonder. This will allow our students to evolve throughout their careers and to be able to work through inevitable change.
- Prepare our students for a lifetime of teaching. Teaching is a stressful job in addition to be rewarding. We believe in teaching our music education students to strive for the best from their students while understanding that societal and administrative pressures can be dealt with constructively.
Teaching Experience
Our curriculum is designed to give students the maximum amount of hands-on teaching experience. Our music education courses offer students an average of three guided teaching demonstrations per semester. Students get to work on specific skills and get constructive feedback from their professors. Our students spend 5 weeks in practicum experience and a full 16 week semester in student teaching. Our students have additional leadership and teaching opportunities in Cougar Marching Band, Concert Choir, the Piano Pedagogy Lab School, and other ensembles as well.
RSOs
RSOs (registered student organizations) are an essential part of our program and offer extra-curricular opportunities for experiences, lectures, and outside clinicians. In addition, these RSOs (CNAFME – Collegiate National Association for Music Education and ACDA-American Choral Directors Association) offer regional and national conferences that are a wonderful way to expand your horizons as a music educator.
Scholarships
There are many scholarships available for qualified students. Here are our top three:
School of Music Scholarship:
Students must audition to be considered. Visit our scholarship webpage for more information. School of Music scholarships can be awarded throughout your degree.
WSU General Scholarship:
This application will allow you to be considered for over 700 university scholarships. You can find the link to the application here. WSU scholarships can be awarded throughout your degree.
R.H. and Jane Logan Scholarship:
Students who intend to teach in public schools can apply for these scholarships. Visit the scholarship information here. Click on “WSU Scholarships” and your find the expandable link at the bottom. These scholarships can be awarded throughout your degree.
Our Faculty
Our faculty are world-class and have a wealth of knowledge. They are all eager to meet, teach, support you.
Email us for further information: