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Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools

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2023 Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools

69 Colleges
$47,664 Avg Salary
$26,812 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best General Education Graduate Certificate 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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 69 schools in the United States to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best educational experiences for students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the United States

Check out the education graduate certificate programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

Top 10 Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools

Our analysis found Claremont Graduate University to be the best school for general education students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in the United States. Located in the suburb of Claremont, Claremont Graduate University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read full report on General Education at Claremont Graduate University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.

On average, education graduates from UC Berkeley take out $18,850 in student loans while working on their Graduate Certificate.

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#3

Auburn University

Auburn, AL

The excellent graduate certificate programs at Auburn University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best general education schools in the United States. Located in the small city of Auburn, Auburn is a public school with a very large student population.

Full General Education at Auburn University Report

#4

Tufts University

Medford, MA

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Tufts University is a great place for general education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Read full report on General Education at Tufts University

Out of the 69 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus landed the # 5 spot on the list. Pitt is a very large public school located in the city of Pittsburgh.

On average, education graduates from Pitt take out $25,278 in student loans while working on their Graduate Certificate.

Read full report on General Education at University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus

With a ranking of #6, California State University - Sacramento did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public school with a very large student population.

Full General Education at California State University - Sacramento Report

#7

University of Georgia

Athens, GA

University of Georgia did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for general education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of Athens, UGA is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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University of Missouri - Columbia landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate general education programs. Mizzou is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Columbia.

Read full report on General Education at University of Missouri - Columbia

Winona State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for general education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. Winona State is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Winona.

Full General Education at Winona State University Report

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for general education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #10 on the list. UIUC is a very large public school located in the small city of Champaign.

Full General Education at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Report

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for General Education students that almost earned our Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools award.

Rank College Location
11 Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette, IN
12 Ball State University Muncie, IN
13 Goucher College Baltimore, MD

General Education by Region

View the Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

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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