2023 Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools
Finding the Best Education Graduate Certificate School for You
With 327,871 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, education is the #4 most popular major in the United States.
With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best 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.
The Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 512 schools in the United States to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best educational experiences for students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for education majors pursuing a graduate certificate.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Postbaccalaureate Certificates in Education
Our analysis found Bank Street College of Education to be the best school for education students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in the United States. Located in the large city of New York, Bank Street College of Education is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Claremont Graduate University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. Claremont Graduate University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Claremont.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Lebanon Valley College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the small suburb of Annville, LVC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Brandman University is a great place for education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large city of Irvine, Brandman is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Harvard University is a great place for education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
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Northwestern University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
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The College of New Jersey landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate education programs. Located in the suburb of Ewing, TCNJ is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
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With a ranking of #8, Washington State University did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the town of Pullman, Wazzu is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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Wisconsin Lutheran College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the city of Milwaukee, WLC is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #10, University of Virginia - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students working on their graduate certificate. University of Virginia is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Charlottesville.
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Seattle Pacific University came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the city of Seattle, SPU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Johns Hopkins University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #12 on the list. Johns Hopkins is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Baltimore.
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Valley City State University landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate education programs. Located in the town of Valley City, Valley City State University is a public school with a small student population.
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The College of Saint Rose ranked #14 on this year’s Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the small city of Albany, Saint Rose is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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University of Chicago ranked #15 on this year’s Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.
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With a ranking of #16, Hood College did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students working on their graduate certificate. Hood is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Frederick.
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With a ranking of #17, Towson University did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students working on their graduate certificate. Towson is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Towson.
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Minnesota State University - Mankato ranked #18 on this year’s Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Mankato, Minnesota State Mankato is a public school with a large student population.
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With a ranking of #19, Loyola Marymount University did quite well on this year’s best schools for education students working on their graduate certificate. Loyola Marymount is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.
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Western Washington University ranked #20 on this year’s Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Bellingham, WWU is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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Augusta University landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate education programs. Located in the midsize city of Augusta, Augusta University is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
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Northwestern College came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. NWC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the distant town of Orange City.
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Saint Mary’s College of California ranked #23 on this year’s Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the suburb of Moraga, SMC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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University of Maryland - College Park ranked #24 on this year’s Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. UMCP is a very large public school located in the large suburb of College Park.
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Bethel University Minnesota did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #25 on the list. Bethel University Minnesota is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Saint Paul.
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Remaining Award Winners
This list shows the remainder of the colleges awarded a Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 512 different United States education schools we analyzed.
Additional Noteworthy Schools
Here are some additional great schools for Education students that almost earned our Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools award.
Education by Region
View the Best 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 |
More Education Rankings
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 |
Majors Similar 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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