Yes. Thank you. I have made the decision that I will be going for a music ed degree to hopefully be able to teach at a college. After my bachelor’s degree, I will get a job, probably at a high school, and save up money to go for my master’s, and start teaching as an adjunct. Then I will have to go for my doctorate after I have saved up some money.
This is all unrealistic on many levels. I know PhD’s in music with major accomplishments who are having trouble getting an adjunct job. Once obtained, the pay is abysmal so you need another job alongside the adjunct job. It is very unlikely you could even get an adjunct job with just a bachelor’s.
A master’s is very expensive. You can sometimes get a funded master’s as part of a doctoral program. However in the current climate and demographic decline, many universities are cutting music programs and cutting faculty and staff. Humanities and arts are not necessarily thriving, and there will be even fewer students in the future decade or two.
Music ed is not going to get you a college teaching job. You might be able to teach at a public school if you get a degree in the state you want to teach in, but of course those jobs are competitive.
I am concerned that you are making decisions with incomplete information. I am concerned that you are choosing music ed based on that information. You can major in anything, take VP lessons (many schools fund lessons- explore that), do extracurricular performance, take music electives. You can major in music too, for the love of it, and your career does not have to be music-related.
I’ll take a look at your “How would I become a college professor” thread.
What are your current extracurriculars? Look at Colleges that Change Lives. one school I like is Clark in Worcester MA and they do give merit. St. Olaf is on there too.