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Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California

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2023 Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California

31 Colleges
$61,137 Avg Salary
$20,697 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Education Graduate Certificate School for You

Education is one of the most popular subjects to study in California. With 17,606 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, it ranked 3rd out of all the majors we track in the state.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

The Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 31 schools in California to see which ones offered the best graduate certificate programs for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California

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

Top 10 Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Claremont Graduate University the best school in California for education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large suburb of Claremont, Claremont Graduate University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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#2

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Brandman University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Brandman is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Irvine.

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#3

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, CA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Loyola Marymount University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Full Education at Loyola Marymount University Report

Out of the 31 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Saint Mary’s College of California landed the # 4 spot on the list. SMC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Moraga.

Read full report on Education at Saint Mary’s College of California

Out of the 31 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the # 5 spot on the list. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.

Full Education at University of California - Berkeley Report

University of California - Irvine ranked #6 on this year’s Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. UC Irvine is a very large public school located in the city of Irvine.

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California State University - Sacramento ranked #7 on this year’s Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public college with a very large student population.

Full Education at California State University - Sacramento Report

#8

University of Redlands

Redlands, CA

University of Redlands came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. University of Redlands is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Redlands.

Full Education at University of Redlands Report

California State University - Long Beach landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate education programs. CSULB is a very large public school located in the city of Long Beach.

Read full report on Education at California State University - Long Beach

#10

National University

La Jolla, CA

National University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the city of La Jolla, National University is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Read full report on Education at National University

Best Education Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Education Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 2,740
Oregon 3,137
Nevada 702
Hawaii 401
Alaska 259

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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