Overview

CCM's educational roots date back to 1867, and a solid, visionary instruction has been at its core since that time. The synergy created by housing CCM within a comprehensive public university gives the college its unique character and defines its objective: to educate and inspire the whole artist and scholar for positions on the world's stage.

CCM provides students with professionally-oriented immersive experiences in order to prepare them to enter directly into performing and media arts careers. Students are expected to enroll continuously full time (fall-spring) while completing the major requirements of the degree. Learn more about CCM's Residency Policy.

CCM's faculty and staff and its state-of-the-art facilities make possible the professional training and exceptional education on which CCM believes the future of the arts relies. The school's roster of eminent faculty regularly receives distinguished honors for creative and scholarly work, and its alumni have achieved notable success in the performing and media arts. More than 150 internationally recognized faculty members work with students from around the world, specializing in one of the following areas of study:

• Composition
• Musicology
• Music Theory

• Choral Conducting (Department of Choral Studies)
• Commercial Music Production
  
• Jazz Studies
• Orchestral Conducting (Department of Orchestral Studies)
• Wind Conducting (Department of Wind Studies) 

• Music (Division of General Studies)

• Harpsichord
  
• Organ
• Piano

• Media Production

• Music Education

• Strings
• Voice
• Woodwinds/Brass/Percussion

• Acting
  
• Arts Administration
• Dance
• Musical Theatre
• Opera
• Theatre Design and Production

At CCM, tomorrow’s arts luminaries work with today’s industry leaders. Our internationally recognized faculty members work with students from around the world. CCM students receive personalized mentorship from professors who guide their individual scholarly, creative, musical, performing and teaching growth.

Who are our faculty members? CCM professors are Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award-winning performers and designers, ASCAP and BMI Award-winning songwriters and composers, as well as Fulbright Scholars. They are members of major American orchestras, as well as directors and conductors for the world’s leading opera houses and summer festivals. They are researchers, educators, choreographers, technicians, filmmakers and playwrights, as well as experts on health and wellness for artists. They have published widely-used textbooks and produced multimedia for US presidents. They have been featured on major broadcasts like Good Morning America, the Today Show and the Tonight Show, to mention just a few of their accomplishments.

CCM is committed to preparing whole artists and scholars to take their places on the world's stage. Whole artists and scholars are not only well-trained in their chosen art form, they are also prepared to thrive in high-stakes, high-pressure media and performing arts environments.

CCM’s integrative program of health & wellness for artists teaches students to manage stress, anxiety and burn-out. Our goal is to position CCM graduates for long, healthy and productive lives and careers.

CCM has long been recognized as a leader in performing and media arts education, and the college has received many accolades for its academic programs throughout the years.

Although U.S. News & World Report no longer ranks music schools, CCM continues to track and catalog the external recognition that it receives. CCM consistently appears in ranking lists published by performing and media arts industry publications including Backstage and Playbill, as well as publications focused on higher education including College Factual, College Gazette and Inside Music Schools.

The following list represents some of CCM's more recent rankings and accolades. The list is not intended to be exhaustive, and not all of the sources listed below update their rankings on an annual basis. We would encourage anyone who is interested in attending our college to visit our campus and experience the CCM Village in person.

• Playbill included CCM in its 2025 list of the "Top 10 Most Represented Schools on Broadway." CCM is regularly included in this annual list, which highlights the colleges and universities who have the most alumni performing on Broadway each season.
• CCM was designated one of the top “schools of the stars” by Playbill in 2024 based on the number of alumni performers and designers nominated for the 77th annual Tony Awards.
• Backstage has included CCM in its recent lists of “Best Colleges for Singing” and “Top College Musical Theatre Programs in the US.” While the individual entries on both lists are unranked, Backstage lists CCM alongside 12 other leading Vocal Programs and 13 other top undergraduate Musical Theatre programs.
• College Factual placed CCM at #5 in its most recent list of “Top 25 Most Popular Colleges for Music.” This list, which is comprised of the most well attended music schools, also highlighted CCM’s strong freshman retention rate, stating: “The school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.”
• College Factual has also recently ranked CCM's music programs "in the top 10% of the country," and placed CCM at #1 in its list of "Best Schools for Music in Ohio."
• CCM Media Production's "Sports Media" curricular track, which is presented in partnership with UC Athletics and ESPN, received a Best of Cincinnati® award in 2023 for "Best Student Program with Actual National Exposure."
• College Gazette included CCM in its 2021 list of "The 10 Best Performing Arts Colleges in the US," and specifically highlighted our Musical Theatre, Jazz and Media Production programs and offerings.
• Inside Music Schools has recently ranked CCM at #2 in its list of "Top Classical/Opera Voice Programs," and at #5 in its list of "Top Schools to Study Musical Theatre."

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music is an accredited institution of the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD), the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST), and a member of the University/ Resident Theatre Association (U/RTA). The “Film & TV” and “Multimedia” tracks of CCM’s BFA program in Media Production are also fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).

The University of Cincinnati and all regional campuses are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.