 She continued her education at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, graduating in 1926 with bachelor's degrees in music and liberal arts, making her the first black student to earn a music degree from Oberlin.While there, Bailey developed a friendship with Louise Thompson, who would become a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance movement, and encouraged Langston Hughes, inventor of jazz poetry, to read poetry there.She traveled with a quintet giving concerts in Cleveland, New York, and Philadelphia, as well as London and Paris.