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Best Education Schools in California

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2023 Best Education Schools in California

62 Colleges
$57,949 Avg Salary
$23,652 Avg Student Debt

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.

Full Education at Claremont Graduate University Report

#2

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

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 fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Stanford.

Read full report on Education at Stanford University

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of California - Santa Cruz is a great place for education students. UC Santa Cruz is a large public school located in the small city of Santa Cruz.

Full Education at University of California - Santa Cruz Report

#4

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA

Out of the 62 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Santa Clara University landed the # 4 spot on the list. SCU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Santa Clara.

Read full report on Education at Santa Clara University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Concordia University, Irvine. It ranked #5 on our 2023 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.

Full Education at Concordia University, Irvine Report

Fresno Pacific University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for education students. It came in at #6 on the list. Fresno Pacific is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large 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.

Read full report on Education at Fresno Pacific University

#7

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

Brandman University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Schools in California ranking. Located in the city of Irvine, Brandman is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

The average amount in student loans that education majors at Brandman take out is $29,480.

Full Education at Brandman University Report

#8

University of Redlands

Redlands, CA

With a ranking of #8, University of Redlands did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students. Located in the city of Redlands, University of Redlands is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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Saint Mary’s College of California came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Schools in California ranking. 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 midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Education at University of California - Berkeley

Additional Noteworthy Schools

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 Schools 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

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

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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