Admission and audition requirements
Music degrees are designed to develop the student’s abilities for performance, public school certification for teaching, private teaching, or composition. These degrees also prepare students for graduate study in music.
Students desiring to pursue a BA, BMus, BME, or BS music major or minor must first audition for a committee of applied faculty in that student’s desired performance area.* This audition should take place during the semester prior to the first semester of enrollment in applied lessons. All students will be required to demonstrate, through successful completion of a Music Theory Entrance Exam, a rudimentary ability to relate musical sound to notation and terminology before beginning the theory and ear-training sequence.
All music majors must apply for formal admission to the degree program. This typically will occur at the end of the sophomore year, and must be completed before the student has finished 75 hours. In order to be admitted to the degree program, students must pass MUS 298 , the piano proficiency exam, and have a combined (Missouri State and transfer) GPA of at least 2.75 and a combined (Missouri State and transfer) GPA of at least 3.00 in Music courses. Students who have not been formally admitted to the degree program will be unable to enroll in 300-level and above applied study.
*Students pursuing the minor in either Composition or Recording Arts are not required to audition in a performance area.
Admission to Teacher Education
Application to Teacher Education is automatic upon completion of MUS 200 and is contingent upon completion of requirements. Admission to Teacher Education is required before students are allowed to enroll in additional courses in the professional education component. The criteria below are used to determine admission to Teacher Education.
- Completion of 45 credit hours.
- Combined GPA (Missouri State and transfer) of 2.75 or higher.
- Combined GPA (Missouri State and transfer) of 3.00 or higher in the major requirements (music content).
- Piano proficiency passed.
- Completion of COM 115 , MUS 148 , and MUS 200 with a grade of “C” or higher and MUS 298 with a grade of “P”.
- Earned a composite score or superscore of 20 or higher on the ACT or earned passing scores on all four sub-sets of the Missouri General Education Assessment (MoGEA). Refer to the MoGEA website for details.
- Completion of Transition Point One.
- Approval of the Educator Preparation Provider Council.