2023 Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best General Education Graduate Certificate 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 69 schools in the United States to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best value experiences for education students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
Top 10 Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Goucher College the best value school in the United States for general education students working on their graduate certificate. Goucher is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Baltimore.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Goucher are $9,765 per year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Minnesota State University - Mankato. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. Minnesota State Mankato is a fairly large public school located in the city of Mankato.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Minnesota State Mankato are $9,308 per year.
Minnesota State Mankato excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools list.
Full General Education at Minnesota State University - Mankato Report
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Winona State University is a great value for general education students working on their graduate certificate. Winona State is a moderately-sized public school located in the distant town of Winona.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Winona State are $12,836 a year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Winona State also is in the top 10% of our Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools ranking.
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Out of the 69 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Union College Kentucky landed the # 4 spot on the list. Union College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Barbourville.
Union College graduate students pay an average of $8,210 in tuition and fees each year.
Full General Education at Union College Kentucky Report
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University of Southern Mississippi landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate general education programs. Located in the city of Hattiesburg, Southern Miss is a public college with a large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Southern Miss are $11,204 per year.
Read full report on General Education at University of Southern Mississippi
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With a ranking of #7, University of North Alabama did quite well on this year’s best value schools for general education students working on their graduate certificate. UNA is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Florence.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UNA are $13,860 a year.
Full General Education at University of North Alabama Report
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Post University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the suburb of Waterbury, Post University is a private for-profit school with a large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Post University are $7,700 per year.
Full General Education at Post University Report
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Messiah University 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 #9 on the list. Messiah is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Mechanicsburg.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Messiah are $13,050 a year.
Full General Education at Messiah University Report
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Saint Michael’s College 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 #10 on the list. Saint Michael's is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized suburb of Colchester.
Saint Michael’s graduate students pay an average of $11,160 in tuition and fees each year.
Read full report on General Education at Saint Michael’s College
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These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | California State University - Sacramento | Sacramento, CA |
| 12 | Liberty University | Lynchburg, VA |
| 13 | Lindenwood University | Saint Charles, MO |
General Education by Region
View the Best Value 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 |
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Majors Related to Education
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.
- 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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