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Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California

2023 Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California

31 Colleges
$61,137 Avg Salary
$20,697 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Education Graduate Certificate 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 Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 31 schools in California to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best educational experiences for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Education Graduate Certificate Colleges.

Top 10 Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools

Our analysis found Claremont Graduate University to be the best school for education students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in California. Claremont Graduate University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Claremont.

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#2

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Brandman University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Irvine, Brandman is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

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#3

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, CA

Out of the 31 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Loyola Marymount University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Loyola Marymount is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Saint Mary’s College of California is a great place for education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the suburb of Moraga, SMC is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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The excellent graduate certificate programs at University of California - Berkeley helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best education schools in California. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

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University of California - Irvine 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 large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public college with a very large student population.

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California State University - Sacramento did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. Sac State is a very large public school located in the large city of Sacramento.

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#8

University of Redlands

Redlands, CA

University of Redlands ranked #8 on this year’s Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. 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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California State University - Long Beach came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a very large student population.

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#10

National University

La Jolla, CA

National University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate education programs. National University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of La Jolla.

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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

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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