Find Grad Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Education Master's Degree Schools in California

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Education Master's Degree Schools in California

57 Colleges
$49,367 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Education Master's Degree 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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Education Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 57 schools in California to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences 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 Master’s Degree Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best for education majors pursuing a master's degree.

Top 10 Best Education Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found Claremont Graduate University to be the best school for education students who want to pursue a master’s degree in California. Located in the suburb of Claremont, Claremont Graduate University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read More…

#2

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Stanford University is a great place for education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

#3

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Santa Clara University is a great place for education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Read More…

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Fresno Pacific University is a great place for education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Fresno, Fresno Pacific is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Education at Fresno Pacific University

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Concordia University, Irvine is a great place for education students working on their master’s degree. Concordia University, Irvine is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Irvine.

Full Education at Concordia University, Irvine Report

#6

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

Brandman University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Brandman is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Irvine.

Full Education at Brandman University Report

University of California - Irvine did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. UC Irvine is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Irvine.

Read full report on Education at University of California - Irvine

#8

University of Redlands

Redlands, CA

With a ranking of #8, University of Redlands did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students working on their master’s degree. University of Redlands is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Redlands.

Read More…

University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.

Full Education at University of California - Berkeley Report

Saint Mary’s College of California ranked #10 on this year’s Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in California list. SMC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Moraga.

Read More…

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.

Featured Schools

Find Graduate Schools Near You

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