He received his bachelor's degree from Northwestern University and was taught composition by David Van Vactor. Following his bachelor's, Fetler earned a master's degrees from Yale, and then accepted a position at the University of Minnesota where he obtained his doctorate.[1] In addition to Vactor, Fetler also studied with Paul Hindemith, Quincy Porter, and Boris Blacher, and taught many composers at Minnesota including Eric Stokes, Donald Keats, Michael Schelle, Stephen Paulus, Libby Larsen, and Carol Barnett. See: List of music students by teacher: C to F#Paul Fetler.