The Bachelor of Music degrees with majors in music performance and in music education are professional degrees that prepare students for a variety of career opportunities and further educational experiences. The Bachelor of Arts with a major in music allows students the flexibility of designing a comprehensive liberal arts curriculum that may lead to graduate school or develop into entrepreneurial careers in music. Each program of study has a sequentially based curriculum beginning in the first semester of the freshman year. Students who delay starting these course sequences until completion of the Core Curriculum may prolong their academic careers.

All new students who intend to pursue an undergraduate degree in music must audition for a faculty committee for the purpose of being placed in the appropriate applied music sequence course. Transfer students must take a placement exam in music theory and must also audition for a faculty committee for the purpose of being placed in the appropriate applied music and music theory sequence courses.

Ensemble participation is a vital part of the training of the professional musician. In addition to their own academic function, the principal ensembles of the Department of Music serve as the laboratory courses for the study of applied music. Therefore, students pursuing music degrees at VSU are required to register for and perform in the assigned principal ensemble each semester they are registered for applied music, regardless of the total number of principal ensemble credits required for the degree. Petitions for deviation from departmental policy must be submitted to the Department Head in timely fashion and will be considered by a committee composed of the faculty of the Department of Music, subject to decision by the Department Head.

The Department of Music is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.