The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

Peabody is a school of The Johns Hopkins University.

The Johns Hopkins University is often termed "decentralized." There are advantages and disadvantages to being in a decentralized system. The major advantages are that each school of the University is free to behave much like an independent institution—developing itself to meet the needs of its students, and not having to compete for resources with other schools. Business matters are taken care of centrally, so there is minimum duplication of effort for such things as billing, health insurance, etc.. As a result, schools with radically different missions (such as medicine, international studies, public health, and music) and research facilities like the Applied Physics Lab can all coexist under one central administrative umbrella.

As a school of The John's Hopkins University, Peabody students are JHU students, and have access to most of the opportunities and activities available to students at the School of Arts and Sciences. A Peabody degree is simultaneously a Johns Hopkins University degree, and carries with it the same assumption of excellence as any other JHU degree—plus the musical credentials of a Peabody Conservatory degree.

Degree programs have an academic component to them. Diploma courses are focused almost entirely on performance. Here is how they relate on each level of study:

On the undergraduate level, the vast majority of Peabody students enroll in the Bachelor of Music (BM) degree program. The BM course of study is made up of approximately 75% music courses (performance and musical academics like eartraining, theory, history, etc.). The remaining 25% of the program is made up of liberal arts (general studies) courses. We also offer a Performers Certificate Program (PC) which eliminates the liberal arts. Since the course load for the Performers Certificate Program is 25% smaller, this program is usually completed in three years. The performance level necessary for entrance is similar to that of the Bachelor of Music program. However, students who earn a Performers Certificate do not qualify for jobs of any sort requiring a Bachelors Degree, nor do they have the qualifications to subsequently apply for a Masters program. For these reasons the PC program is best reserved for a few students of relatively high performance level who, for one reason or another, are uncomfortable with liberal arts study.

Graduate study in music (Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts) is already focused exclusively on music performance and musical academic study. The graduate level diploma programs offered are even more focused—limited to private study, recitals, and (for the GPD program) ensembles. The GPD program is open to any student with the equivalent of a Performers Certificate or a Bachelors degree. It qualifies as a full time program for international students. Tuition is a bit less than for a degree program due to the reduced course load.

Undergraduate students are required to live in the dorms for their first two years at Peabody. Many elect to continue in the dorms for their convenience, and because dorm life can ideally remove some of the stresses of living on your own. The Peabody Residence Halls are on campus, and we have always been able to accommodate any student who wishes to live there. As an alternative, Peabody is located in an urban residential neighborhood. Off campus housing is readily available.

Peabody is located within a single city block in a residential section of Baltimore. Thus, while statistically we are not in a high crime area, it makes sense to take security issues seriously. We have our own Campus Police, who keep the community informed of any crime-related occurrences in the neighborhood. We also offer a van service to transport students to and from their local destinations after dark. Transportation to and from the Homewood campus is by a shuttle bus.

In the larger sense, Peabody, as part of The Johns Hopkins University, is constantly evaluating emergency preparedness issues stemming from the terrorist activities of September 11, 2001, and subsequent threats to other major infrastructure systems.