Founded in 1945, Berklee College of Music is the world's largest independent music college and one of the premier institution for the study of contemporary music. A nonprofit institution, Berklee granted its first bachelor's degrees in 1966.
Facilities include 13 buildings in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, and a practice/rehearsal building. There are well-equipped labs, hundreds of ensemble and private practice rooms, and a 1,200-seat Berklee Performance Center (BPC), a concert hall offering numerous student and faculty concerts as well as performances presented by major concert promoters.
Over 3,400 students attend Berklee,with the highest percentage (30%) of international undergraduates of any college in the United States. Women comprise about 25 percent of the student body. Graduates with Music Business/Management majors can enter a special accelerated MBA program at Boston's Suffolk University, which waives a number of requirements, based on course work taken at Berklee.