Bachelor of Music in Music Education

The Bachelor of Music, Education degree consists of a strong Music program with a broad range of additional studies specific to Education, including a semester for student teaching. Students in this program will take many of the classes, ensembles, and private lessons which are available to those in the Bachelor of Music Degree programs, but have fewer electives due to the demands of the Education degree. Graduates with the Music Education Degree may go on to Master’s Degree programs or commence teaching in the public or Christian schools upon their certification.

Why Study Music Education at Nyack?

The Bachelor of Music Education is a substantial and challenging major that provides a foundation for graduate studies. It is a carefully-mentored program that culminates in certification by the State of New York to teach K-12 music. Accredited graduates have a very high placement record in the Tri-State area, which provides excellent employment opportunities upon graduation.

At a Glance

• Credits: 140 Standard
• Completion Time: 4 1/2 years
• Accreditation: Middle States Accrediting Agency, NY State Board of Regent, National Association of Schools of Music, Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, Association of Christian Schools International

What Will I Study?

During the Freshman year, students take Core academic courses, Applied Lessons, either instrumental or voice, Piano class as needed, Recorder or Guitar class, Theory lessons at the appropriate entering level, and an ensemble. As mastery in college subjects is gained and demonstrated, they may enter the Music Education major. Pedagogical classes in music, together with a solid curriculum of Core and professional subjects, fill the curriculum. Music educators must be educated in vocal and instrumental music. Students in the BME program also present a half recital in their vocal or instrumental field during their senior year.

Our Mission

Nyack College, a Christian and Missionary Alliance educational institution, through its undergraduate, graduate and seminary programs, pursues its historic mission of preparing men and women to “take the whole Gospel to the whole world.”

Core Values

Nyack seeks to exalt Jesus Christ and fulfill its mission by being:

Academically Excellent The academic excellence of Nyack has been recognized by the Middle States Commission on Accreditation, The New York State Department of Education, and The Association of Theological Schools.

Globally Engaged We live in a world that demands engagement from all of its citizens. Nyack will meet these 21st-century challenges with a commitment that for us dates back to the 19th century.

Intentionally Diverse Nyack is the most ethnically diverse Christian College in the history of American higher education. We celebrate this as an important part of both our effectiveness and our identity.

Personally Transforming This transformation is what occurs when students encounter Jesus Himself on our campus and abandon their citizenship of a self-centered, materialistic world in favor of becoming citizens of the Kingdom of heaven.

Socially Relevant Nyack graduates do more than take the words of Jesus to those who have never heard. Our graduates take the love of Jesus to those who have not known love.

A Little History

Over one hundred and thirty years ago, God ignited an overwhelming love for people of every race and tongue in the heart of a Canadian named A.B. Simpson. In those days, Simpson was pastor of a large and affluent church in Manhattan. In response to what God was doing in his own life, Simpson urged his congregants to reach out to the immigrants who were pouring into the city. He even went so far as to bring the poor and the downtrodden into his church. When he began to do this, many in the church were less than pleased.

So in a Sunday morning sermon in 1882, Simpson declared, “I am not interested in being a respectable Christian.” He left the church and began a new venture in which his burning desire to serve all people could be satisfied. He left his church to start a school in which people would be trained to take the Good News of God’s love wherever this news needed to be heard.

That school today is known as Nyack College.

Since its inception on the back of a Broadway stage in 1882, Nyack College has grown to become an institution of over 2,500 students pursuing a wide variety of graduate and undergraduate degrees on multiple campuses. At the heart of it all, is a burning commitment to bring the good news of God’s love wherever this news needed to be heard.

A.B. Simpson described this commitment as taking “the whole gospel” to “the whole world.” Today, as Nyack College serves students who represent “the whole world,” the result is a diverse and vibrant community unlike any other in higher education.