Invest in The Future

The American College of Music (ACM) was established in 2019 by music educators and started operating in July 2021. Their primary objective is to offer an affordable, 100% online graduate education highly valued academically and centered on hands-on instruction that caters to the student’s needs. ACM promotes critical and creative thinking through teaching and learning, vital for gaining fact-based knowledge, achieving positive results, and finding informed solutions. Upon graduation, students are encouraged to continue their pursuit of objective truth through lifelong learning and independent thought.

• 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 by 250%, while inflation has hovered around 2.1%. During the last three years (2021-2023), the inflation rate has jumped to 17.3%, causing the cost of living to be even higher (Inflation Dat.com). Skyrocketing 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.

Your donations will help ACM with its mission to transform music education.

• ACM’s 100% Online master’s program in music educators has no required residency or out-of-state tuition. The program consists of 5-ten-week quarters, graduating students in 15 months, expediating class time and program length to accommodate working educators’ demanding schedules.

• One of ACM’s main priorities is to help music educators achieve their educational goals by keeping tuition rates affordable and providing low-interest private financing, culminating with 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 offered course. As a result, ACM students can overcome their educational challenges, have successful programs, and become master teachers.

  
  “Music and the other arts foster in our students the characteristics employers want to see in the people they hire.”
  (Denese Odegaard – Past President of the National Association of Music Educators)