Almost every university in the United States has a music college. The U.S. also hosts numerous independent music schools, as well as arts schools with music programs. Any prospective music student will be able to find a music college in his or her state, including most of the music specialties.
Education-Portal ranks the top universities and schools for music. Among universities, it lists the following as the top 20 for 2010: Berkeley, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Stanford, Georgetown, University of Chicago, Duke, Washington University in St. Louis, Notre Dame, MIT, Yale, Brown, Princeton, Dartmouth and Rice University --- in that order.
Julliard School in New York is a legendary performing arts school. Julliard, with around 800 students at any time, admits no more than 5 percent of applicants from a highly competitive pool. Other highly exclusive schools include the Eastman School in Rochester, New York; Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio; Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana; and Berklee School of Music in Boston.
Competition for scholarships at universities depends on a combination of the student's demonstrated musical ability, her overall grades and her scores on ACT/SAT tests. Exclusive schools, however, offer some full scholarships based on musical ability alone, though the abilities theses schools seek are extraordinary.