About ACM Online

• Develop passionate educators, reflective scholars, and life-long learners.

• Provide heuristic, hands-on training with student-centered, project-based instruction.

• Promote learner-centered pedagogy, critical thinking, and problem-solving as a

  personal development framework.

• ACM offers a 100% Online master’s degree program for working music educators to further their educational goals, academic knowledge, and pedagogical skills. Due to out-of-school preparation time and extra-curricular activities such as rehearsals, performances, and competitions, in-service music practitioners have difficulty attending traditional brick-and-mortar graduate programs.

• For the past twenty years (2000-2019), public and private graduate education tuition has increased 250%, while inflation has hovered around 2.1%. One out of four Americans has a student loan, with a US student loan debt totaling 1.7 trillion dollars. According to a study by Leslie and Gray, higher education’s sky-rocketing tuition rates are due to the introduction of government-secured student loans into the market, negating free-market competitiveness.

• Teacher preparedness is a significant issue, especially among new, untenured music educators. A 2011 survey by the US Department of Education reveals that fifty percent of teachers are not prepared to meet the challenges of their profession. Music educators want practical, hands-on content that covers subjects like musical repertoire, advanced instrument techniques, and technology utilization, to name a few. Most importantly, K-12 music practitioners seek mentorship programs with experienced master teachers.

• Music educators designed ACM’s 100% Online master’s program for music educators, with no required residency or out-of-state tuition. The program consists of five ten-week quarters, graduating students in 15 months. Class time and program length are expedited to accommodate working educators’ demanding schedules.

• One of ACM’s main priorities is helping music educators achieve their educational goals by keeping tuition rates affordable and providing low-interest private financing, culminating in a debt-free degree. Maintaining a cost-effective overheard and seeking individual donations and grants facilitates the program’s success.

• ACM Online curriculum is designed to increase the music educator’s effectiveness in the classroom by incorporating heuristic (hands-on) learning, critical thinking, problem-solving, and mentorship into every course. As a result, ACM students can overcome their educational challenges, have successful programs, and become master teachers.

The primary benefactors of the ACM’s Online Master in Music Education program are the educators’ acquisition of knowledge, heightened use of current educational strategies, methodologies, and pedagogy skills. Most importantly, however, are the students of the educators who will be the recipients of their instructor’s acquired knowledge and skills, regardless of demographics, race, or abilities. It is these students who will obtain life-long learning to achieve life-long goals. As recently stated by the past president of the National Association of Music Educators: “Music and the other arts foster in our students the characteristics employers want to see in the people they hire.”

ACM is seeking accreditation from a national accreditation agency approved by the US Department of Education. As the process continues, more details will become available.