Master of Arts in Teaching Music
The MAT in Music is being taught out and is no longer accepting applications as of Fall 2024. We encourage prospective students to explore our MAT in elementary education or secondary education.
Begin an exciting career as a music educator through this cutting-edge certification program, where you will gain the professional skills and knowledge needed for success.
Why Earn Your Master of Arts in Teaching Music at Sacred Heart?
Sacred Heart’s 42-credit MAT with certification provides the skills and knowledge you need to be marketable in the job market and successful in the profession. Our flexible program schedules courses on weekday evenings and can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. With an MAT from Sacred Heart, you’ll benefit from top tier professional preparation as well as the Farrington College of Education & Human Development’s forward-thinking and culturally responsive approach to preparing teachers.
Benefits of a Sacred Heart MAT
While earning your MAT, you will benefit from:
- Sacred Heart’s expert faculty–who apply their experience as music educators, performers and scholars to prepare you for a rewarding and exciting career in music education
- A tuition-paid internship or residency–a unique advantage over many programs
- Yearlong school-based experience integrates and extends traditional student teaching timeline, providing additional experience and mentoring
- A 12-week, full-time student teaching experience, which provides graduates with the professional skills required to be an effective music educator
Learning Outcomes
Students will be equipped with the professional knowledge and skills required to be an effective music educator. Graduates will:
- Reach today’s students through a deep understanding of the diverse field of music education, how it has evolved and what it could be in the future
- Foster healthy, productive classroom communities and support the learning needs of all students
- Create meaningful, significant music learning experiences for students that systematically develop their musical knowledge and skills
- Develop and refine skills in lesson planning, assessment, differentiation, score study, conducting, rehearsal technique, secondary instruments and more
Career Outlook
Graduates will be attractive candidates for employment as music educators in public, private and parochial PreK-12 schools, and prepared to become leaders in their buildings and districts in the future. The skills and knowledge developed in this program will also make graduates more skilled teachers in nonprofit community music contexts as well as the private studio.
Practicing music teachers work in a wide and ever-expanding variety of contexts:
- Elementary classroom music
- Secondary general music classes including music technology, keyboard, guitar, music theory, music history and interdisciplinary collaborations
- An evolving array of large and small ensembles including choral, wind band, string, jazz, gospel, rock and other groups
Frequently Asked Questions
Students who begin in the summer may finish the program in 13 months; those who begin in the fall will take longer to complete.
Graduates of Sacred Heart’s MAT program will be attractive candidates for employment as music educators in public, private and parochial PreK-12 schools, and prepared to become leaders in their buildings and districts in the future.
Students gain valuable experience applying their knowledge during Sacred Heart’s optional tuition-paid, school-based experience program. Participants are placed in a local school district for one year (as opposed to the traditional 12-week student teaching placement), serving as instructional assistants and completing their student teaching, all while pursuing their coursework in evening classes.
