Find Grad Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Most Popular General Education Master's Degree Schools

Find Schools Near

2023 Most Popular General Education Master's Degree Schools

414 Colleges
$50,291 Avg Salary

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 assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Most Popular General Education Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 414 schools in the United States to see which master's degree programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the General Education program at each school on the list.

Check out the education master's degree programs at these schools if you want to attend one of the most popular in the United States.

#1

National University

La Jolla, CA

Our 2023 rankings named National University the most popular school in the United States for general education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of La Jolla, National University is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Of the 1,075 students majoring in education at National University, 30% are male and 70% are female.

Read More…

#3

Grand Canyon University

Phoenix, AZ

Out of the 414 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Grand Canyon University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit school with a very large student population.

About 84% of the students majoring in education at the school are women while 16% are male.

Full General Education at Grand Canyon University Report

#4

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

Out of the 414 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Johns Hopkins University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

About 75% of the students majoring in education at the school are women while 25% are male.

Read full report on General Education at Johns Hopkins University

#5

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

Out of the 414 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Harvard University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Harvard is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Cambridge.

Women make up 76% of the education majors at the school.

Full General Education at Harvard University Report

#6

James Madison University

Harrisonburg, VA

James Madison University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for general education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. JMU is a very large public school located in the city of Harrisonburg.

About 83% of the students majoring in education at the school are women while 17% are male.

Read full report on General Education at James Madison University

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for general education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the distant town of Winona, SMU MN is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Of the 262 students majoring in education at SMU MN, 15% are male and 85% are female.

Read full report on General Education at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota

California State University - Fullerton did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for general education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Cal State Fullerton is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Fullerton.

About 82% of the students majoring in education at the school are women while 18% are male.

Read More…

California Baptist University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for general education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Cal Baptist is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Riverside.

About 77% of the students majoring in education at the school are women while 23% are male.

Read More…

Fort Hays State University ranked #10 on this year’s Most Popular General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. FHSU is a large public school located in the remote town of Hays.

Women make up 69% of the education majors at the school.

Read More…

#11

San Jose State University

San Jose, CA

San Jose State University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree general education programs. San Jose State is a very large public school located in the city of San Jose.

Women make up 90% of the education majors at the school.

Read More…

Eastern Washington University came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular General Education Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the town of Cheney, EWU is a public college with a large student population.

Of the 216 students majoring in education at EWU, 18% are male and 82% are female.

Read full report on General Education at Eastern Washington University

Ohio State University - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for general education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #14 on the list. Ohio State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Columbus.

About 75% of the students majoring in education at the school are women while 25% are male.

Read full report on General Education at Ohio State University - Main Campus

#15

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

Brandman University landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree general education programs. Brandman is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Irvine.

Women make up 84% of the education majors at the school.

Read More…

Azusa Pacific University landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree general education programs. Azusa Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Azusa.

About 72% of the students majoring in education at the school are women while 28% are male.

Read More…

#17

Northcentral University

San Diego, CA

Northcentral University ranked #17 on this year’s Most Popular General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. Northcentral University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Diego.

Women make up 71% of the education majors at the school.

Read More…

With a ranking of #17, University of California - Los Angeles did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. UCLA is a very large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

About 75% of the students majoring in education at the school are women while 25% are male.

Read More…

#19

Montclair State University

Montclair, NJ

Montclair State University landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree general education programs. Montclair State is a very large public school located in the suburb of Montclair.

About 84% of the students majoring in education at the school are women while 16% are male.

Read full report on General Education at Montclair State University

University of California - Riverside landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree general education programs. UCR is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Riverside.

Women make up 76% of the education majors at the school.

Read More…

#21

Portland State University

Portland, OR

Portland State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for general education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #21 on the list. Located in the city of Portland, Portland State University is a public college with a very large student population.

About 60% of the students majoring in education at the school are women while 40% are male.

Full General Education at Portland State University Report

Concordia University, Texas came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular General Education Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Concordia University, Texas is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Lakeway.

About 65% of the students majoring in education at the school are women while 35% are male.

Full General Education at Concordia University, Texas Report

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #23 on this year’s Most Popular General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Champaign.

About 79% of the students majoring in education at the school are women while 21% are male.

Read More…

#24

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

With a ranking of #24, Clemson University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. Clemson is a very large public school located in the suburb of Clemson.

Of the 153 students majoring in education at Clemson, 8% are male and 92% are female.

Read full report on General Education at Clemson University

#25

Sacred Heart University

Fairfield, CT

Sacred Heart University ranked #25 on this year’s Most Popular General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. Sacred Heart is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Fairfield.

Women make up 77% of the education majors at the school.

Read full report on General Education at Sacred Heart University

#26

Southern Utah University

Cedar City, UT
#27

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA
#31

Morningside College

Sioux City, IA
#33

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA
#36

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA
#37

La Salle University

Philadelphia, PA
#37

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA
#39

Capella University

Minneapolis, MN
#40

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA
#42

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN
#49

Belhaven University

Jackson, MS

Additional Award Winners

This list shows the rest of the schools awarded a Most Popular General Education Master's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 414 different United States general education schools we analyzed.

Rank College Location
51 Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA
52 California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA
53 Goucher College Baltimore, MD
54 University of San Diego San Diego, CA
55 Augustana University Sioux Falls, SD
56 University of Portland Portland, OR
57 Tusculum University Greeneville, TN
58 University of Mary Washington Fredericksburg, VA
58 Longwood University Farmville, VA
60 Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO
60 Southwest Baptist University Bolivar, MO
62 Wilmington University New Castle, DE

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also popular but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular General Education Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
63 University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA
64 University of Northern Colorado Greeley, CO
64 West Virginia University Morgantown, WV
64 Towson University Towson, MD
67 Adelphi University Garden City, NY
68 California State University - Monterey Bay Seaside, CA
69 New Mexico State University - Main Campus Las Cruces, NM
69 University of North Carolina at Wilmington Wilmington, NC
71 University of Maryland - Baltimore County Baltimore, MD
72 Georgian Court University Lakewood, NJ
73 Baker University Baldwin City, KS
73 University of South Carolina - Columbia Columbia, SC
75 California University of Pennsylvania California, PA
76 Wilson College Chambersburg, PA
77 University of Wyoming Laramie, WY
78 University of Arizona Tucson, AZ
79 Teachers College of San Joaquin Stockton, CA
79 University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point Stevens Point, WI
81 Saint Michael’s College Colchester, VT
81 Saint Joseph’s College of Maine Standish, ME
81 University of Wisconsin - Stout Menomonie, WI

General Education by Region

View the Most Popular 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

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.

  • 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.

Featured Schools

Find Graduate Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited graduate schools across the U.S.