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Best General Education Master's Degree Schools

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2023 Best General Education Master's Degree Schools

301 Colleges
$50,291 Avg Salary

Finding the Best General Education Master's Degree School for You

General Education is the #39 most popular major in the country with 29,810 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best General Education Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 301 schools in the United States 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 General Education Master’s Degree Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best General Education Master's Degree Colleges.

Top 25 Top Schools for a Master's in General Education

Our analysis found Claremont Graduate University to be the best school for general education students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. Located in the 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

#2

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

The excellent master’s degree programs at Stanford University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best general education schools in the United States. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

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#3

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Evanston.

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#4

Whitworth University

Spokane, WA

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Whitworth University is a great place for general education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Spokane, Whitworth is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full General Education at Whitworth University Report

#5

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

Out of the 301 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Brandman University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Brandman is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Irvine.

Full General Education at Brandman University Report

#6

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

With a ranking of #6, University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.

Read full report on General Education at University of Pennsylvania

#7

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

Harvard University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree general education programs. Harvard is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge.

Read full report on General Education at Harvard University

University of Washington - Tacoma Campus came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools ranking. UW Tacoma is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Tacoma.

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California State University - Sacramento ranked #9 on this year’s Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. 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

#10

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

With a ranking of #10, Johns Hopkins University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Full General Education at Johns Hopkins University Report

University of California - Berkeley landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree general education programs. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the city of Berkeley.

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

With a ranking of #12, University of Puget Sound did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. Puget Sound is a small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Tacoma.

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York College of Pennsylvania ranked #13 on this year’s Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. YCP is a small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize suburb of York.

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#14

University of San Diego

San Diego, CA

University of San Diego came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools ranking. USD is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.

Full General Education at University of San Diego Report

#15

Westminster College Pennsylvania

New Wilmington, PA

With a ranking of #15, Westminster College Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the town of New Wilmington, Westminster New Wilmington is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on General Education at Westminster College Pennsylvania

#16

Gonzaga University

Spokane, WA

With a ranking of #16, Gonzaga University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Spokane, Gonzaga is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Read full report on General Education at Gonzaga University

With a ranking of #17, Point Loma Nazarene University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. PLNU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.

Read full report on General Education at Point Loma Nazarene University

With a ranking of #18, California State University - San Marcos did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of San Marcos, CSUSM is a public school with a large student population.

Read full report on General Education at California State University - San Marcos

#19

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA

With a ranking of #19, University of Virginia - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public school with a very large student population.

Full General Education at University of Virginia - Main Campus Report

With a ranking of #20, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. UIUC is a very large public school located in the city of Champaign.

Read full report on General Education at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

California State Polytechnic University - Pomona came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Pomona, Cal Poly Pomona is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Full General Education at California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Report

With a ranking of #22, Seattle Pacific University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. SPU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Seattle.

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California State University - Long Beach did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for general education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #23 on the list. CSULB is a very large public school located in the large city of Long Beach.

Full General Education at California State University - Long Beach Report

University of California - Los Angeles ranked #24 on this year’s Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools list. UCLA is a very large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Read full report on General Education at University of California - Los Angeles

With a ranking of #25, Saint Mary’s College of California did quite well on this year’s best schools for general education students working on their master’s degree. SMC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Moraga.

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

Rest of the Top Best General Education Master's Degree Schools

#26

Martin Luther College

New Ulm, MN
#29

Calvin University

Grand Rapids, MI
#30

Augustana University

Sioux Falls, SD
#31

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN
#32

San Jose State University

San Jose, CA
#34

Winona State University

Winona, MN
#35

University of Delaware

Newark, DE
#38

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, CA
#40

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN
#41

Valparaiso University

Valparaiso, IN
#42

Carthage College

Kenosha, WI

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 General Education Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
46 Minot State University Minot, ND
47 University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA
48 California State University - Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA
49 National University La Jolla, CA
50 Goucher College Baltimore, MD
51 Hamline University Saint Paul, MN
52 James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA
53 Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota Winona, MN
54 University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA
55 California State University - Stanislaus Turlock, CA
56 Saint Joseph’s University Philadelphia, PA
57 Elmhurst University Elmhurst, IL
58 University of Georgia Athens, GA
58 Northwest University - College of Adult and Professional Studies Kirkland, WA
60 Fairfield University Fairfield, CT

General Education by Region

View the Best General Education Master's Degree 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 area of study, general education has other similar majors worth exploring.

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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