2023 Best Education Schools in California
Finding the Best Education School for You
In 2020-2021, education students earned 25,545 degrees and certificates from a California school, making the subject the 7th in the state.
There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Education Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 62 schools in California to see which ones offered the best programs for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Education Schools in California
The following schools top our list of the Best Education Colleges.
Top 10 Best Education Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Claremont Graduate University the best school in California for education students. Claremont Graduate University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Claremont.
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Out of the 62 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Stanford University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Stanford.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Santa Cruz. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Education Schools in California list. UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public school located in the city of Santa Cruz.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Santa Clara University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Education Schools in California list. SCU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Santa Clara.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Concordia University, Irvine. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Education Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Irvine, Concordia University, Irvine is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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Fresno Pacific University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Education Schools in California list. Fresno Pacific is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Fresno.
Education majors at Fresno Pacific take out an average of $23,250 in student loans while working on their egree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $215, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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With a ranking of #7, Brandman University did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students. Located in the large city of Irvine, Brandman is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.
The average amount in student loans that education majors at Brandman take out is $29,480.
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With a ranking of #8, University of Redlands did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students. Located in the small city of Redlands, University of Redlands is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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Saint Mary’s College of California did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for education students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Moraga, SMC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for education students. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.
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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 Education Schools in California award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | California Lutheran University | Thousand Oaks, CA |
| 12 | Loyola Marymount University | Los Angeles, CA |
Best Education Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Education Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Washington | 5,206 |
| Oregon | 4,001 |
| Hawaii | 830 |
| Nevada | 1,387 |
| Alaska | 331 |
More Education Rankings in California
Education Related Rankings by Major
Education Majors to Study
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 110,226 |
| Educational Administration | 46,469 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 43,297 |
| Special Education | 36,792 |
| General Education | 29,810 |
| Curriculum & Instruction | 19,832 |
| Student Counseling | 13,858 |
| Instructional Media Design | 8,695 |
| Teaching English or French | 5,791 |
| Other Education | 4,858 |
| Teaching Assistants | 2,751 |
| Educational Assessment | 2,552 |
| Multilingual Education | 1,910 |
| Education Philosophy | 737 |
| International Education | 293 |
Most Popular Majors Related to Education
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Social Sciences | 205,984 |
| Psychology | 195,678 |
| Communication & Journalism | 120,571 |
| Family, Consumer & Human Sciences | 55,820 |
| History | 32,731 |
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 Horadrim.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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