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Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools

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2023 Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools

69 Colleges
$47,664 Avg Salary
$26,812 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best General Education Graduate Certificate School for You

With 29,810 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, general education is the #5 most popular major in the United States.

With all the teaching programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Teaching Degree Search has created the Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 69 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best graduate certificate programs for teaching 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 General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the United States

The colleges and universities below are the best for education majors pursuing a graduate certificate.

Top 10 Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools

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

Read full report on General Education at Claremont Graduate University

Out of the 69 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the # 2 spot on the list. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the city of Berkeley.

After completing their Graduate Certificate, education graduates from UC Berkeley carry an average student debtload of $18,850.

Full General Education at University of California - Berkeley Report

#3

Auburn University

Auburn, AL

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Auburn University is a great place for general education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the small city of Auburn, Auburn is a public college with a very large student population.

Full General Education at Auburn University Report

#4

Tufts University

Medford, MA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Tufts University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on General Education at Tufts University

Out of the 69 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus landed the # 5 spot on the list. Pitt is a fairly large public school located in the city of Pittsburgh.

After completing their Graduate Certificate, education graduates from Pitt carry an average student debtload of $25,278.

Read More…

With a ranking of #6, California State University - Sacramento did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public school with a very large student population.

Read full report on General Education at California State University - Sacramento

#7

University of Georgia

Athens, GA

University of Georgia came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Athens, UGA is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on General Education at University of Georgia

University of Missouri - Columbia did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for general education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #8 on the list. Mizzou is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Columbia.

Read full report on General Education at University of Missouri - Columbia

With a ranking of #9, Winona State University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their graduate certificate. Winona State is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Winona.

Read More…

With a ranking of #10, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their graduate certificate. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Champaign.

Full General Education at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Report

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for General Education students that almost earned our Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools award.

Rank College Location
11 Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette, IN
12 Ball State University Muncie, IN
13 Goucher College Baltimore, MD

General Education by Region

View the Best General Education Graduate Certificate 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 teaching area of study, general education has other similar majors worth exploring.

Education Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Education 29,810

Related Major Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific 110,226
Educational Administration 46,469
Teacher Education Subject Specific 43,297
Special Education 36,792
Curriculum & Instruction 19,832

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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