POTSDAM -- SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music has been ranked among the top 10 colleges for music education in the United States, according to an article in Music School Central.

The web article rated The Crane School of Music fourth out of all American universities for excellence in music education.

"The Crane School of Music's inclusion in this top tier of national music education institutions resonates with its long history as a pioneering place for the preparation of music teachers, fostering music education research and innovation, and committed to high musical standards," Crane Dean Michael Sitton said.

"From Julia E. Crane's singular vision for school music, at a time when the field of music education was just coming into existence, and throughout its nearly 130-year history, The Crane School has sustained its tradition of innovation and is proud to continue its national leadership in this field -- a field more critical now than ever, to the experiences and engagement of young people in our nation's schools," Sitton said.

Julia E. Crane established the school that would later bear her name in 1886. It was the first program for training public school music teachers in the country.

Music School Central author Bill Zuckerman praised Crane's long history of excellence in music education, and noted that its job placement rate for graduates is nearly 100 percent.

"The Crane School of Music's greatest legacy hinges on the strength of its superior music education department," Zuckerman wrote. "I have personally read that 10 percent of all music educators in the United States are pedagogically related to someone who trained at The Crane School of Music. Considering there are hundreds of thousands of K-12 schools in the U.S. with music programs, that is a compelling and ubiquitous legacy that SUNY Potsdam should take pride in."

To read the whole article and see the full list, visit musicschoolcentral.com/top-10-colleges-music-education-majors-us.

For more information about SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.