Doctor of Musical Arts

A Doctor of Musical Arts (abbreviated DMA) is a professional doctoral degree in music. For survey and census purposes, it is also classified as a research doctorate by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in order to distinguish it from the Doctor of Medicine (MD) and other degrees that endow its recipients authority to practice in a specific profession (medicine, law, etc.). Like a PhD, the DMA is a terminal degree, but it focuses on the performance disciplines of music rather than on music research (i.e. a graduate in musicology would earn a PhD as opposed to a DMA).