Master's · Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania

Is Music at Messiah University worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 6.2 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $71,866; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $83,075; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $32,196; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $34k (likely $34k – $34k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $12k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in PA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 6.2 years (likely 3.6–14.4); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$89k (likely −$188k – $27k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $107k (likely −$126k – $376k); Today's dollars

Scorecard reports no net price for graduate programs; cost is based on what graduates typically borrowed.