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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

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

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

Finding the Best General Education Graduate Certificate School for You

General Education is the #17 most popular major in California with 7,063 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

The Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 7 schools in California 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.

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. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

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. Sac State is a very large public school located in the large city of Sacramento.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Sac State are $8,826 a year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Fresno. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Fresno State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Fresno.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Fresno State are $8,087 per year.

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The excellent graduate certificate programs at California State University - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value general education schools in California. Cal State LA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

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

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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of California - Berkeley is a great value for general education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Berkeley are $14,160 a year. While working on their Graduate Certificate, education majors at UC Berkeley accumulate an average of around $18,850 in student debt.

In addition to its great value ranking, UC Berkeley is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list.

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

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Azusa Pacific University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the large suburb of Azusa, Azusa Pacific is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Azusa Pacific are $16,696 a year.

Full General Education at Azusa Pacific University Report

Claremont Graduate University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate general education programs. Claremont Graduate University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Claremont.

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

Claremont Graduate University also made our Best General Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list, coming in at #5.

Read full report on General Education at Claremont Graduate University

#7

Northcentral University

San Diego, CA

Northcentral 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 #7 on the list. Located in the city of San Diego, Northcentral University is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

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

Read full report on General Education at Northcentral University

Best Value General Education Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value General Education Schools 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

General Education is one of 14 different types of programs to choose from.

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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