The Best Universities for Electronic Dance Music, 2014

College. That beautiful time between the awkward optimism of high school and the crushing defeat of adulthood. It's four years of finding yourself (or destroying as many brain cells as you can before you have to start paying actual taxes). Choosing where to go is as important as choosing which festival to go to each summer (and almost as expensive). At THUMP, we know how to prioritize. Forget quality of professors, class sizes, cost, and graduation rates. The top three priorities in choosing a university are untz, untz, and untz.

We sent a top notch team of researchers deep into the internet and across the continent to collate North America's top schools for dance music. We looked at crucial factors like local club life, regional festival access, electronic production choices at the schools of music, on-campus activities and dance music-specific course offerings. We evaluated, ranked, weighted and compared them all to form the first even official list of Best Universities for Electronic Dance Music. Time to hit the books beats.

10. (tie) Penn State University - State College, PA

Suburban / Public / Undergrad Population: 39k / $$ (In State); $$$ (Out of State) // Photo credit: PSU.edu

Central Pennsylvania isn't exactly known for its club scene, let alone its youth culture. Still, the students of PSU's main campus have defined a dance music experience for themselves, largely through their own EDM Club, which organizes trips to Philadelphia (three hours away) and provides a built-in fanbase for the artists who come to play near University Park, like Zedd, Stafford Brothers and Datsik. Life In Color even made a State College stop last year. The School of Music offers a forward-thinking technology program, but it's the out-of-classroom opportunities that will make (or break) you as a Nittany Lion rager.

10. (tie) Brown University - Providence, RI

Urban / Private / Undergrad Population: 9k / $$$$$ // Photo credit: Brown University Facebook, @nirdesht

Don't let the Ivy League exterior fool you, Brown's got a good bit of dance wiggle to it. Its Computer Music and Multimedia undergrad program and Multimedia and Electronic Music Experiments grad program (they actually call it MEME) will have you churning out IDM classics in no time—just ask alumnus Nicolas Jaar. But with no major music festival in the vicinity and a dreary Providence club scene, the electronic dance love here has a distinctly academic flair. Not to worry, though, the school is only a couple hours outside of the bright lights and big bass of NYC.

9. Clemson University - Clemson, SC

Suburban / Public / Undergrad Population: 17k / $ (In State); $$$ (Out of State) // Photo Credit: Clemson University facebook

If you're wary of big-city life but still want the beats, Clemson's neighbor Greenville, SC and nearby Asheville, NC have all the class, culture, and quirk you'll need. Asheville is a happenin' town, once home to THUMP favs Two Fresh and current host of nerdbeat superjam Moogfest. Asheville's annual Mountain Oasis Electronic Music Summit is taking 2014 off, but Clemson's orange-clad students can still dabble in bass with the Audio Technology emphasis in their Performing Arts major. Radio station WSBF features a few student DJs who are 'bout that EDM life, much to the ire of the dominant Upstate SC country music contingent.

8. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, MI

Urban / Public / Undergrad Population: 28k / $ (In State); $$$$ (Out of State) // Photo credit: University of Michigan facebook

Its Ann Arbor address belies the University of Michigan's club cred. Not only is the Big Ten powerhouse adjacent to the birthplace of techno (providing easy access to Movement Detroit for students who stay for summer semester), but it's also the home of influential label Ghostly International. If you want to actually study some untz untz and not just hear it, you might be left wanting more, as Michigan's course listing is light on the electronica. But a Bachelor of Music with a Music and Technology specialization will scratch the itch for those who want to learn how to produce.

7. University of Toronto - Toronto, ON

Urban / Public / Undergrad Population: 34k / $ (Canadians); $$$ (International) // Photo Credit: University of Toronto facebook, @ryanchai0157

Toronto has asserted itself as Canada's dance capital. From Zeds Dead to Keys N Krates to the man the Dominion calls Joel Zimmerman, Toronto turns up and the city's dance scene is legit in spite of the city government's recent meddling. The University of Toronto has a respectable music program and a party-friendly student body, but the fact that it boasts its own EDM Club just shows how much U of T digs the untz. Even as The Guvernment plans to shut its doors in early 2015, festivals like VELD, Digital Dreams and ID&T's Sensation White still call the city home.

6. University of Texas at Austin - Austin, TX

Urban / Public / Undergrad Population: 38k / $ (In State); $$$ (Out of State) // Photo credit: University of Texas facebook

UT's biggest campus just happens to be the backyard for fests like SXSW and Austin City Limits. Once the domain of banjo bands and shoegaze guitar junkies, both fests have expanded into the world of CDJs and high-speed BPMs. The Longhorns were ready, with electronic music resources at the School of Music, including the renown UT Electronic Music Studios (UTEMS) and coursework in how to make those fancy computer tunes. Student groups like the Texas Electronic Music Club organize pregames and promote local talent, building on the city's student-led EDM fanbase to make Austin the must-stop Texas city for touring DJs.

4. (tie) University of Miami - Coral Gables, FL

Suburban / Public / Undergrad Population: 10k / $$$$ // Photo credit: University of Miami facebook

The 'Canes have a Music Industry program tucked into the Frost School of Music featuring industry pros on its faculty; good news if you aspire to dance music-lifer status. The Miami club scene is world-renowned (although Wynwood and South Beach are both a pricier cab ride-away than you'd like) and the parties around December's Art Basel always kill. The kicker here is the late March juggernaut that is Ultra/Miami Music Week/Winter Music Conference. If you go to the U, all of your cold-weather friends will be at your dorm room door every Spring Break. Got any room on that futon?

4. (tie) McGill University - Montreal, QC

Urban / Public / Undergrad Population: 27k / $ (Canadians); $$ (International) // Photo Credit: Ryan Reisert

If we've learned anything from Tiga, it's that Quebecers want to go dancing all night. McGill's Schulich School of Music is one of the best in the world so you can get tune-wise in the day and (if you're 18+) as derpy as needed at night at the legendary Stereo or other Rue Ste Catherine clubs, overflowing with quality local talent. The real coup for McGill students is something no other northern clime university has: The one and only Igloofest. The month-long outdoor festival turns those dark and gloomy winter weekends into a beat-paradise with curated lineups of megastars and up-and-comers alike.

3. New York University - New York, NY

Urban / Private / Undergrad Population: 19k / $$$$$ // Photo credit: NYU facebook

When it comes to local club life, New York City is an undisputed 10 out of 10. Whether you're heading to Marquee or Verboten, you'll have no trouble finding where to boogie til dawn. The Music Business program at Steinhardt is top-notch, as is the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at Tisch. But even College of Arts and Science students benefit from courses and lectures by real-life industry heads who happen to live nearby. Even as the city's clubbing epicenter has moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn, you won't miss the absence of on-campus life. Local festivals like Electric Zoo and this fall's first NYC-edition of Warp complement the fervent underground scene, making the city a consummate hotbed for dance.

2. San Diego State University - San Diego, CA

Urban / Public / Undergrad Population: 25k / $ (In State); $$ (Out of State) // Photo credit: SDSU facebook

As the beach city's largest university, everyone knows San Diego State's reputation as a party school. Still, it's the recent growth of local promoters like LED Presents that bring dance music heavy hitters to San Diego on the weekly, typically within a 15 minute taxi ride from campus (much more convenient than previous generations' pastime of crossing the border to party in Tijuana). SDSU's very solid School of Music and Dance has its own electronic music studio for students to work in alongside a digital keyboard lab, and thousands of revel-ready kids to test out your new beats on. Keep in mind, Coachella is as close to SD as it is to LA, HARD is an easy drive up the 5 too and who knows, maybe at some point you'll find yourself deep in the brush for a Desert Hearts party.

1. University of Southern California - Los Angeles, CA

Urban / Private / Underground Population: 18k / $$$$$ // Photo credit: USC facebook

Ask anyone from Moby to 12th Planet to TOKiMONSTA to Swedish House Mafia: Los Angeles is the dance music capital of the world. DJ Everyone and Their Momma have set up home and studio in the sun-filled megalopolis where raves were born and Grammy-winners are made (hey Skrillex!). If you're not old enough to go ham at clubs like Avalon or Sound, take your pick with local festivals Coachella, HARD, Nocturnal, Splash House and more. Amid all of this is the University of Southern California, a kandi bracelet's throw from the Downtown warehouse scene on one side and Hollywood rooftop pool parties on the other. The Music Industry program at the Thornton School of Music is the finest in the world and even offers a course specifically on EDM. Yes, you can earn credit while analyzing the theoretical precepts of Kaskade or studying the intersections of identity, science fiction and electro Afrofuturism. In between, all that traffic is a great excuse to rinse out some new tunes—just ask current Trojan and Dirtybird artist Justin Jay.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
The scenes at these schools didn't quite make the grade, but they don't flunk out in an untz-free vacuum either.

DePaul University, Chicago, IL
Chicago's festival scene is booming even as club life in the house-music birthplace has taken a hit. DePaul's student body is down for the get down despite its otherwise stellar school of music being stuck in the pre-house past.

San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
Once a city defined by youth counter culture and innovation, San Fran is now overrun with rich Silicon Valley nerds who (surprise!) don't make great club life. SFSU kids still know where to rave in a city that always has hidden house and techno gems.

University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO
Before SFX bought Beatport and picked away at its Colorado remnants, Denver was a dance music mecca. It's cool though. CU Boulder kids can now skip the drive and see Skrillex, SBTRKT and Dillon Francis at home.

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
UF is crucial to Gainesville's spot on the touring map for Krewella and Bingo Players and the existence of all-EDM radio station Party 100.9-FM. Plus, the school's avant garde electronic music program is primed to evolve into something potent.

University of Victoria, Victoria, BC
For its size, Victoria is a decent drop city with its own club scene and proximity to Vancouver. The music school's "computer music option" is a little 1.0, but plenty of UVic students are 'bout that trap life these days anyway.

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