2023 Best General Education Master's Degree Schools
Finding the Best General Education Master's Degree 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 Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 301 schools in the United States to see which master's degree 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.
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2023 Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for education majors pursuing a master's degree.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Master's in General Education
Our analysis found Claremont Graduate University to be the best school for general education students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. Located in the large 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 Stanford University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on General Education at Stanford University
A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Northwestern University is a great place for general education students working on their master’s degree. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
Out of the 301 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Whitworth University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Spokane, Whitworth is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Brandman University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. Brandman is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Irvine.
University of Pennsylvania ranked #6 on this year’s Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.
With a ranking of #7, Harvard University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. Harvard is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Cambridge.
University of Washington - Tacoma Campus ranked #8 on this year’s Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. UW Tacoma is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Tacoma.
Read full report on General Education at University of Washington - Tacoma Campus
California State University - Sacramento ranked #9 on this year’s Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Full General Education at California State University - Sacramento Report
Johns Hopkins University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for general education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
University of California - Berkeley ranked #11 on this year’s Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.
University of Puget Sound ranked #12 on this year’s Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. Puget Sound is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Tacoma.
York College of Pennsylvania did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for general education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list. YCP is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of York.
Read full report on General Education at York College of Pennsylvania
University of San Diego did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for general education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #14 on the list. USD is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Diego.
With a ranking of #15, Westminster College Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the town of New Wilmington, Westminster New Wilmington is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Full General Education at Westminster College Pennsylvania Report
With a ranking of #16, Gonzaga University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Spokane, Gonzaga is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
With a ranking of #17, Point Loma Nazarene University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. PLNU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.
Full General Education at Point Loma Nazarene University Report
California State University - San Marcos ranked #18 on this year’s Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large 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 Virginia - Main Campus ranked #19 on this year’s Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public school with a very large student population.
Full General Education at University of Virginia - Main Campus Report
With a ranking of #20, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Champaign.
Read full report on General Education at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
With a ranking of #21, California State Polytechnic University - Pomona did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Pomona, Cal Poly Pomona is a public college with a very large student population.
Read full report on General Education at California State Polytechnic University - Pomona
Seattle Pacific University ranked #22 on this year’s Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. SPU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Seattle.
California State University - Long Beach did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for general education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #23 on the list. CSULB is a very large public school located in the large city of Long Beach.
Read full report on General Education at California State University - Long Beach
University of California - Los Angeles landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree general education programs. UCLA is a very large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.
Full General Education at University of California - Los Angeles Report
Saint Mary’s College of California came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools ranking. SMC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Moraga.
Read full report on General Education at Saint Mary’s College of California
Rest of the Top Best General Education Master's Degree Schools
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 Master's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 46 | Minot State University | Minot, ND |
| 47 | University of California - San Diego | La Jolla, CA |
| 48 | California State University - Bakersfield | Bakersfield, CA |
| 49 | National University | La Jolla, CA |
| 50 | Goucher College | Baltimore, MD |
| 51 | Hamline University | Saint Paul, MN |
| 52 | James Madison University | Harrisonburg, VA |
| 53 | Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota | Winona, MN |
| 54 | University of California - Riverside | Riverside, CA |
| 55 | California State University - Stanislaus | Turlock, CA |
| 56 | Saint Joseph’s University | Philadelphia, PA |
| 57 | Elmhurst University | Elmhurst, IL |
| 58 | University of Georgia | Athens, GA |
| 58 | Northwest University - College of Adult and Professional Studies | Kirkland, WA |
| 60 | Fairfield University | Fairfield, CT |
General Education by Region
View the Best General Education Master's Degree 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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