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Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California

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2023 Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

7 Colleges
$15,796 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$47,664 Avg Salary

Finding the Best General Education Graduate Certificate School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, general education was ranked 2nd in California. In fact, 7,063 were awarded in the state in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which teaching program is right 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Teaching Degree Search has created its Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 7 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value graduate certificate programs for education students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California

Check out the education graduate certificate programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Best California Schools for Affordable Quality for a Postbaccalaureate Certificates in General Education

Our 2023 rankings named California State University - Sacramento the best value school in California for general education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Sac State are $8,826 per year.

Sac State excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list.

Full General Education at California State University - Sacramento Report

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means California State University - Fresno is a great value for general education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large city of Fresno, Fresno State is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Fresno State are $8,087 a year.

Read More…

Out of the 7 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Los Angeles landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, Cal State LA is a public school with a very large student population.

Cal State LA graduate students pay an average of $8,219 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the city of Berkeley.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Berkeley are $14,160 a year. After completing their Graduate Certificate, education graduates from UC Berkeley carry an average student debtload of $18,850.

UC Berkeley did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list.

Read full report on General Education at University of California - Berkeley

Out of the 7 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Azusa Pacific University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Azusa Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Azusa.

Azusa Pacific graduate students pay an average of $16,696 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on General Education at Azusa Pacific University

Claremont Graduate University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate general education programs. Located in the large suburb of Claremont, Claremont Graduate University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Claremont Graduate University are $36,380 per year.

Claremont Graduate University also took the #1 spot in our Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California rankings.

Read full report on General Education at Claremont Graduate University

#7

Northcentral University

San Diego, CA

Northcentral University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Northcentral University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Diego.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Northcentral University are $18,207 per year. Education majors at Northcentral University take out an average of $17,571 in student loans while working on their Graduate Certificate.

Full General Education at Northcentral University Report

Best Value General Education Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 728
Oregon 767
Nevada 36
Hawaii 64
Alaska 26

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 7 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.

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