NASM accredits approximately 574 institutions located throughout the United States. To be an accredited member of NASM, an institution must demonstrate to peer reviewers that it meets and maintains basic threshold standards outlined in the NASM Handbook . Thus, NASM institutional membership provides an assurance that each accredited institution has implemented all standards of the Association applicable to the music programs it offers. Although the Association provides a list of accredited institutional members that have met its published standards, it, like all other accrediting bodies, does not rank institutions or programs.
Rankings can be useful in a variety of contexts.
However, it should be understood that rankings usually represent a compilation of subjective opinions about an institution's past achievements rather than an in-depth review of its total capacity for quality work. When considering the results of any ranking, it is important to know who was asked what, by whom, and for what purpose. Further, institutions vary widely in their purposes and priorities. Rankings that attempt to cover a broad range of institutions or programs may be comparing apples and oranges. The best schools appearing on any particular list thus may or may not be the best schools for the development of a particular individual.