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2023 Best Education Schools

850 Colleges
$46,202 Avg Salary
$24,437 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Education School for You

With 199,724 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, education is the #3 most popular major in the United States.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Education Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 850 schools in the United States to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Education Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Education Colleges.

Top 25 Top Schools in Education

Our analysis found Claremont Graduate University to be the best school for education students who want to pursue a degree 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 Education at Claremont Graduate University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Bank Street College of Education. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Education Schools list. Bank Street College of Education is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.

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#3

Lebanon Valley College

Annville, PA

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Lebanon Valley College is a great place for education students. LVC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small suburb of Annville.

Full Education at Lebanon Valley College Report

#4

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Northwestern University is a great place for education students. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Evanston.

Full Education at Northwestern University Report

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of California - Santa Cruz is a great place for education students. Located in the city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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Teachers College at Columbia University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best education programs. Located in the city of New York, Teachers College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#7

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

With a ranking of #7, Stanford University did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#8

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA

Santa Clara University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Education Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

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#9

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best education programs. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.

Full Education at University of Pennsylvania Report

University of Washington - Tacoma Campus came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Schools ranking. UW Tacoma is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Tacoma.

Full Education at University of Washington - Tacoma Campus Report

Washington State University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best education programs. Wazzu is a very large public school located in the distant town of Pullman.

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#12

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

University of Chicago landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best education programs. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#13

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

With a ranking of #13, Brandman University did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students. Brandman is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Irvine.

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With a ranking of #14, Seattle Pacific University did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students. SPU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Seattle.

Full Education at Seattle Pacific University Report

The College of New Jersey landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best education programs. TCNJ is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Ewing.

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With a ranking of #16, Fresno Pacific University did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students. Located in the city of Fresno, Fresno Pacific is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full Education at Fresno Pacific University Report

With a ranking of #17, Concordia University, Irvine did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students. Concordia University, Irvine is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Irvine.

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#18

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

Harvard University came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Schools ranking. Harvard is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Cambridge.

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#19

Brown University

Providence, RI

Brown University landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best education programs. Located in the city of Providence, Brown is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Full Education at Brown University Report

#20

Seattle University

Seattle, WA

Seattle University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for education students. It came in at #20 on the list. Located in the city of Seattle, Seattle U is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Read full report on Education at Seattle University

With a ranking of #21, University of Washington - Seattle Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students. Located in the large city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Education at University of Washington - Seattle Campus

#22

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

Johns Hopkins University ranked #22 on this year’s Best Education Schools list. Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Education at Johns Hopkins University

With a ranking of #23, The College of Saint Rose did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students. Saint Rose is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Albany.

Full Education at The College of Saint Rose Report

University of Puget Sound came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Schools ranking. Puget Sound is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Tacoma.

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#25

Wisconsin Lutheran College

Milwaukee, WI

Wisconsin Lutheran College ranked #25 on this year’s Best Education Schools list. WLC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Milwaukee.

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Rest of the Top 50 Best Education Schools

#26

University of Redlands

Redlands, CA
#27

University of Scranton

Scranton, PA
#29

Stevenson University

Stevenson, MD
#30

Drake University

Des Moines, IA
#31

Wagner College

Staten Island, NY
#33

Trinity University

San Antonio, TX
#34

Berry College

Mount Berry, GA
#35

Elizabethtown College

Elizabethtown, PA
#36

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC
#37

Westminster College Pennsylvania

New Wilmington, PA
#38

Lehigh University

Bethlehem, PA
#39

Northwestern College

Orange City, IA
#40

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN
#41

Duke University

Durham, NC
#44

California Lutheran University

Thousand Oaks, CA
#45

Manhattan College

Riverdale, NY
#46

Loyola University Maryland

Baltimore, MD
#47

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, CA
#49

North Central College

Naperville, IL

Additional Award Winners

This list represents the remainder of the schools awarded a Best Education Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 850 different United States education schools we analyzed.

Rank College Location
51 Gonzaga University Spokane, WA
52 University of Virginia - Main Campus Charlottesville, VA
53 York College of Pennsylvania York, PA
54 Alfred University Alfred, NY
55 Saint Martin’s University Lacey, WA
56 New York University New York, NY
57 University of Delaware Newark, DE
58 Whitworth University Spokane, WA
59 Winona State University Winona, MN
60 Western Washington University Bellingham, WA
61 Centenary University Hackettstown, NJ
62 Hood College Frederick, MD
63 California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA
64 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL
65 Minnesota State University - Mankato Mankato, MN
66 Creighton University Omaha, NE
67 Augusta University Augusta, GA
68 University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD
69 University of Georgia Athens, GA
70 Carroll University Waukesha, WI
71 California State University - San Marcos San Marcos, CA
72 Saint Joseph’s University Philadelphia, PA
73 Villanova University Villanova, PA
73 University of St Thomas Minnesota Saint Paul, MN
75 Martin Luther College New Ulm, MN
76 Midland University Fremont, NE
77 Carthage College Kenosha, WI
78 George Washington University Washington, DC
79 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA
80 Northern State University Aberdeen, SD
81 Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette, IN
82 University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
83 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
84 George Mason University Fairfax, VA
85 University of Mary Bismarck, ND
86 Notre Dame de Namur University Belmont, CA
87 Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX
88 California State University - San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA
89 Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX
90 California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA
91 San Jose State University San Jose, CA
92 Bradley University Peoria, IL
93 Viterbo University La Crosse, WI
94 Olivet Nazarene University Bourbonnais, IL
94 California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Pomona, CA
96 Eastern Mennonite University Harrisonburg, VA
97 Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, PA
98 University of Washington - Bothell Campus Bothell, WA
99 St John’s University - New York Queens, NY
100 Towson University Towson, MD
101 California Baptist University Riverside, CA
102 Ball State University Muncie, IN
103 Piedmont College Demorest, GA
104 Pace University - New York New York, NY
105 University of Florida Gainesville, FL
106 Valley City State University Valley City, ND
107 University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA
108 California State University - Fullerton Fullerton, CA
109 Montclair State University Montclair, NJ
110 Lewis University Romeoville, IL
111 Dominican University of California San Rafael, CA
112 William & Mary Williamsburg, VA
113 Buena Vista University Storm Lake, IA
114 University of Wisconsin - La Crosse La Crosse, WI
115 The College of Saint Scholastica Duluth, MN
116 Syracuse University Syracuse, NY
117 McDaniel College Westminster, MD
118 American University Washington, DC
119 Rutgers University - New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ
120 Pacific Oaks College Pasadena, CA
121 Brigham Young University - Provo Provo, UT
122 Valparaiso University Valparaiso, IN
123 Bethel University Minnesota Saint Paul, MN
124 Dominican College of Blauvelt Orangeburg, NY
125 Wayne State College Wayne, NE
126 Minot State University Minot, ND
127 Dominican University River Forest, IL

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 Education Schools award.

Rank College Location
128 University of Missouri - Columbia Columbia, MO
129 National University La Jolla, CA
130 University of Wyoming Laramie, WY
131 Providence College Providence, RI
132 West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA
133 Fairfield University Fairfield, CT
134 Aurora University Aurora, IL
135 University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA
136 California State University - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
137 Seton Hall University South Orange, NJ
138 Hamline University Saint Paul, MN
139 Fordham University Bronx, NY
140 John Brown University Siloam Springs, AR
141 Rowan University Glassboro, NJ
142 North Dakota State University - Main Campus Fargo, ND
143 University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, IL
144 University of the Pacific Stockton, CA
145 Boston University Boston, MA
146 University of Nebraska - Lincoln Lincoln, NE
147 Northeastern University Professional Advancement Network Boston, MA
148 University of Wisconsin - River Falls River Falls, WI
149 Hunter College New York, NY
150 California State University - Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA
151 Rider University Lawrenceville, NJ
152 University of Maryland - Baltimore County Baltimore, MD
153 Indiana University - Bloomington Bloomington, IN
154 Ithaca College Ithaca, NY
155 Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL
156 Illinois State University Normal, IL
157 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC
158 Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY
159 University of San Diego San Diego, CA
160 South Dakota State University Brookings, SD
161 Western Governors University Salt Lake City, UT
162 Doane University Crete, NE
163 Mayville State University Mayville, ND
164 The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX
165 California State University - East Bay Hayward, CA
166 Goucher College Baltimore, MD
167 University of California - Davis Davis, CA
168 James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA
169 Stockton University Galloway, NJ
170 Tufts University Medford, MA

Education by Region

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

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

Education Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Educational Administration 45,458
Teacher Education Grade Specific 34,451
Special Education 25,158
General Education 21,189
Teacher Education Subject Specific 20,616
Curriculum & Instruction 19,784
Student Counseling 13,840
Instructional Media Design 8,387
Teaching English or French 4,743
Other Education 2,513
Multilingual Education 1,672
Educational Assessment 1,215
Education Philosophy 421
International Education 257
Teaching Assistants 20

Related Major Annual Graduates
Psychology 42,013
Social Sciences 22,292
Communication & Journalism 12,242
Library Science 5,929
History 4,391

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 Horadrim.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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