2023 Best General Education Schools
Finding the Best General Education School for You
In 2020-2021, 21,189 people earned a degree or certificate in general education, making the major the #12 most popular in the United States.
It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
The Best General Education Schools ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 352 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best programs for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
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2023 Best General Education Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Best General Education Colleges.
Top 25 Top Schools in General Education
Our analysis found Claremont Graduate University to be the best school for general education students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Located in the large suburb of Claremont, Claremont Graduate University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Read full report on General Education at Claremont Graduate University
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best General Education Schools list. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Stanford University is a great place for general education students. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Whitworth University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best General Education Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Spokane, Whitworth is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Read full report on General Education at Whitworth University
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Brandman University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best General Education Schools list. Brandman is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Irvine.
With a ranking of #6, University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.
Harvard University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best General Education Schools ranking. Harvard is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Cambridge.
University of Washington - Tacoma Campus came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best General Education Schools ranking. UW Tacoma is a medium-sized public school located in the medium-sized city of Tacoma.
Full General Education at University of Washington - Tacoma Campus Report
Johns Hopkins University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general education students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on General Education at Johns Hopkins University
California State University - Sacramento ranked #10 on this year’s Best General Education Schools list. Located in the city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public school with a fairly large student population.
University of California - Berkeley landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general education programs. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.
Full General Education at University of California - Berkeley Report
University of Delaware came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best General Education Schools ranking. UD is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Newark.
Read full report on General Education at University of Delaware
Auburn University ranked #13 on this year’s Best General Education Schools list. Located in the small city of Auburn, Auburn is a public college with a very large student population.
With a ranking of #14, University of Puget Sound did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students. Puget Sound is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Tacoma.
York College of Pennsylvania came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best General Education Schools ranking. YCP is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized suburb of York.
Read full report on General Education at York College of Pennsylvania
With a ranking of #16, University of San Diego did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students. USD is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.
Read full report on General Education at University of San Diego
Westminster College Pennsylvania landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general education programs. Located in the town of New Wilmington, Westminster New Wilmington is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Read full report on General Education at Westminster College Pennsylvania
Gonzaga University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general education students. It came in at #18 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Spokane, Gonzaga is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
Point Loma Nazarene University landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general education programs. PLNU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.
California State University - San Marcos landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general education programs. Located in the suburb of San Marcos, CSUSM is a public college with a large student population.
Read full report on General Education at California State University - San Marcos
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best General Education Schools ranking. UIUC is a very large public school located in the city of Champaign.
California State Polytechnic University - Pomona came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best General Education Schools ranking. Located in the large suburb of Pomona, Cal Poly Pomona is a public school with a very large student population.
Read full report on General Education at California State Polytechnic University - Pomona
University of Virginia - Main Campus landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general education programs. Located in the small suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public school with a very large student population.
Read full report on General Education at University of Virginia - Main Campus
University of Georgia came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best General Education Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Athens, UGA is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Winona State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general education students. It came in at #25 on the list. Winona State is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Winona.
Rest of the Top Best General Education Schools
Additional Award Winners
This list shows the remainder of the colleges awarded a Best General Education Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 352 different United States general education schools we analyzed.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 51 | California State University - Fresno | Fresno, CA |
| 52 | Ball State University | Muncie, IN |
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best General Education Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 53 | University of California - San Diego | La Jolla, CA |
| 54 | California State University - Bakersfield | Bakersfield, CA |
| 55 | National University | La Jolla, CA |
| 56 | Goucher College | Baltimore, MD |
| 57 | James Madison University | Harrisonburg, VA |
| 58 | Azusa Pacific University | Azusa, CA |
| 59 | Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota | Winona, MN |
| 60 | Hamline University | Saint Paul, MN |
| 61 | California State University - Stanislaus | Turlock, CA |
| 62 | Saint Joseph’s University | Philadelphia, PA |
| 63 | Elmhurst University | Elmhurst, IL |
| 64 | University of California - Riverside | Riverside, CA |
| 65 | University of Wisconsin - Whitewater | Whitewater, WI |
| 66 | Northwest University - College of Adult and Professional Studies | Kirkland, WA |
| 67 | Fairfield University | Fairfield, CT |
| 68 | Rutgers University - New Brunswick | New Brunswick, NJ |
| 69 | University of Wyoming | Laramie, WY |
| 70 | University of California - Davis | Davis, CA |
General Education by Region
View the Best General Education Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More General Education Rankings
General Education Related Rankings by Major
One of 14 majors within the area of study, general education has other similar majors worth exploring.
Majors Similar to Education
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Educational Administration | 45,458 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 34,451 |
| Special Education | 25,158 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 20,616 |
| Curriculum & Instruction | 19,784 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to KOKUYO.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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