VanderCook College of Music
Chicago, Illinois · Private Nonprofit · 89.5% acceptance rate
ROI Score: 43/100 · Below Benchmark
Data: 2024-25 College Scorecard release
VanderCook College of Music, an extraordinarily small (76 students) specialty institution in Chicago focused exclusively on music education, scores 43 (Below Benchmark tier). The school's identity is unique - essentially a single-program institution training music teachers - which means standard ROI math has limited explanatory power. Sticker tuition of $30,910 with average net price of $19,780 puts four-year cost at $79,120. Median federal debt is $27,000, and 10-year median earnings are $47,863 (6-year earnings unreported, likely due to small sample sizes). Payback period of 17 years (sub-score 32) reflects modest teacher salaries against moderate debt. Earnings premium of 0.16 (sub-score 31) is held back by the music-teacher labor market. Completion rate of 66.7% (sub-score 71) is the school's strongest component - notable given the extreme institutional specialization. Several sub-scores are imputed (debt-to-earnings, repayment rate) due to the tiny enrollment producing insufficient federal data. The honest read: VanderCook is a niche credentialing pathway for students absolutely committed to careers in music education. The financial math is structurally constrained by teacher salaries, and prospective students should think of this as mission-driven enrollment with tight payback math, not a comparative ROI play. Specialty programs like this are difficult to evaluate against general ROI benchmarks.
How VanderCook College of Music scores under our methodology
These are the College Scorecard measures that pull this school's CampusROI score down. They describe the published figures, not the quality of the education, and they are our reading of the data. Check them against your own aid offer and intended major.
- ROI Score43/100 - Below Benchmark tier of our scale (below 45). For context, 38% of the schools we score reach 60 or higher.
- Payback period17 years - The median payback across the schools we score is about 12 years.
VanderCook College of Music
Quick Numbers
| In-state tuition + fees | $30,910/yr |
| Out-of-state tuition + fees | $30,910/yr |
| Average net price | $19,780/yr |
| Total 4-year cost (net) | $79,120 |
| Median earnings (10yr post-entry) | $47,863 |
| Average earnings (6yr post-entry) | N/A |
| Median debt at graduation | $27,000 |
| Estimated monthly loan payment | $286 |
| Estimated payback period | 17 years |
| 6-year graduation rate | 66.7% |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 76 |
Data as of 2024-2025. Source: College Scorecard API (U.S. Department of Education).
The Full Financial Picture
The first number you'll see is the sticker price: $30,910/year, which covers tuition and fees only. After grants, scholarships, and aid, the average student here pays a net price of $19,780/year, or roughly $79,120 over four years. That's the number to plan around.
What you actually pay depends a lot on what your family earns. Families making under $30,000/year pay an average of $16,308/year here, while families earning over $110,000 pay $31,777/year.
Among graduates who borrowed, the median federal loan debt from this school is $27,000, which works out to about $286 a month on the standard 10-year repayment plan. We do not have the six-year earnings figure needed to work out a debt-to-earnings ratio for this school.
Net Price by Family Income
What families actually pay after grants and scholarships, by income bracket.
| Family Income | Avg Net Price/Year |
|---|---|
| $0 - $30,000 | $16,308 |
| $30,001 - $48,000 | N/A |
| $48,001 - $75,000 | $17,968 |
| $75,001 - $110,000 | $20,485 |
| $110,001+ | $31,777 |
Cost by Income Bracket Explained
Lower-income families (under $30K)
Families earning under $30,000 pay $16,308 net annually, totaling about $65,232 over four years. Pell aid plus institutional discounting lower the cost. The math hinges on the student finishing and entering K-12 music teaching, where the $43,100 starting salary makes a 17-year payback workable but slow.
Middle-income families ($30K-$110K)
Middle-income families ($48,001-$75,000) pay $17,968 per year, about $71,872 over four years. Note: the $30,001-$48,000 bracket data is not reported (suppressed for small sample size). Aid grading is shallow above $48K, meaning middle and upper-middle families pay close to similar amounts.
Higher-income families ($110K+)
High-income families ($110,001+) pay $31,777 per year - more than the published sticker tuition - totaling about $127,108 across four years. The aid grading penalizes high-income families heavily relative to lower brackets. For high-income families, this is an extremely difficult cost-to-outcomes ratio and only justifiable on mission/passion grounds for a student certain about music education.
Earnings by Major
Top 1 most popular majors at VanderCook College of Music with available earnings data.
| Major | Median Earnings | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Teacher Education, Subject-Specific | $52,671 | C |
Earnings reflect median 4-year post-completion (or 1-year where 4-year unavailable). Grades based on debt-to-earnings ratio.
Program Analysis
Why these programs deliver their earnings outcomes.
Teacher Education, Subject-Specific
Subject-Specific Teacher Education (essentially the music education credential, the school's only program) produces 7 graduates per year with $43,100 in 1-year median earnings, $52,671 at 4 years, $27,000 in median debt, and a 0.63 debt-to-earnings ratio for a C grade. The earnings figures reflect teacher salaries in Illinois and surrounding states where graduates enter K-12 music teaching positions. The credential is highly targeted and graduates land in their intended field at high rates; the financial math is constrained by structural teacher pay rather than program quality.
How Graduates Do
Earnings
Loan Repayment
| Metric | This School | Median of schools we score |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year repayment | 69.4% | 68.8% |
| 3-year repayment | N/A | 73.6% |
| 5-year repayment | 62.7% | 67.7% |
| 7-year repayment | 74.5% | 72.8% |
Completion Rate
Trends Over Time
How VanderCook College of Music’s cost and outcomes have moved across College Scorecard releases (2009-2024).
Average Net Price
Completion Rate
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, release years shown. Net price and completion are reported annually.
Admissions Snapshot
| Acceptance rate | 89.5% |
| Enrollment | 76 |
| Pell Grant recipients | 26.3% |
| Avg faculty salary (monthly) | $6,945 |
VanderCook admits 89.5% of applicants. SAT and ACT data are not reported - typical for music conservatories where audition-based admissions dominate. The 66.7% completion rate is reasonable given the school's audition-filtered student body and clearly-defined career pathway. Selectivity is more about musical aptitude than test scores; the published academic admission rate substantially understates how filtered the audition process is.
Compared to Similar Schools
Peer institutions matched by type, size, and selectivity.
| School | ROI | Net Price | 10yr Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| VanderCook College of Music (this school) | 43 | $19,780 | $47,863 |
| Oberlin College | 45 | $38,645 | $58,343 |
| Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music | 32 | $7,260 | $19,474 |
| The Juilliard School | 27 | $43,571 | $37,827 |
| The New England Conservatory of Music | 25 | $46,754 | $34,483 |
| Berklee College of Music | 20 | $49,465 | $33,647 |
Who Thrives Here
VanderCook fits one type of student: the deeply committed music educator. Pell rate of 26.3% is moderate, and enrollment is 76. The fit case is binary - either students arrive certain about K-12 music education careers and use the school's targeted curriculum to enter the field directly, or they're in the wrong place. The school's specialization is its strength for the right candidate and an enormous risk factor for anyone uncertain about career direction.
The Verdict: Below Benchmark Under Our Scoring
Under our methodology, VanderCook College of Music scores 43/100, which falls in the Below Benchmark tier (below 45). At a net price of $19,780 per year, with typical graduate earnings of $47,863 ten years after entry, we estimate the payback period at about 17 years. In our view that makes the financial case a hard one to make on the numbers alone, but those numbers are averages: your major, your aid package and what you want from a degree all change the picture, so run your own numbers before you commit.
What to keep an eye on: weak earnings relative to cost, a long payback period.
VanderCook College of Music: Common Questions
Is VanderCook College of Music worth it?
In our view, the financial case is a hard one to make on the numbers alone. VanderCook College of Music scores 43/100 on our ROI scale, in the Below Benchmark tier (below 45). At $19,780 a year after aid against $47,863 in typical earnings ten years out, we estimate the payback period at about 17 years. Your major and aid package can change the picture, so run your own numbers.
How much does VanderCook College of Music cost after financial aid?
The average net price - the cost of attendance (tuition, fees, books, supplies and average living costs) minus grants and scholarships, for full-time, first-time students receiving federal aid - is about $19,780 a year, or roughly $79,120 over four years. Because it counts living costs, it can run above tuition alone. That is the number to plan around. Actual cost varies by family income, per the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.
What do VanderCook College of Music graduates earn?
The typical graduate earns about $47,863 ten years after enrolling, roughly $6,063 a year more than the median high-school graduate ($41,800, per NCES, 2022). That earnings gap is what has to cover the cost of the degree.
How long does it take to pay off VanderCook College of Music?
We estimate the payback period - the time it takes for the earnings bump over a high-school graduate to cover what you spent - at about 17 years for VanderCook College of Music. The median across the schools we track is about 12 years.
What is the graduation rate at VanderCook College of Music?
The six-year graduation rate is 66.7%, at or above the 64% national average for four-year schools (NCES, 2022). Completion is 15% of our ROI score, since a degree you don't finish rarely pays back.
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Data: College Scorecard API (U.S. Department of Education)
Vintage: 2024-2025 · Last updated: 2026-03-25
Earnings reflect median outcomes for all federal financial aid recipients. Individual results vary by major, effort, and career path.