2023 Best General Education Master's Degree Schools
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.
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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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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 |
More General Education Rankings
General Education Related Rankings by Major
One of 14 majors within the area of study, general education has other similar majors worth exploring.
Most Popular Majors Related to Education
| 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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