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Most Popular Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California

54 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Most Popular Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 54 schools in California to see which graduate certificate programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Education program at each school on the list.

Check out the education graduate certificate programs at these schools if you want to attend one of the most popular in California.

Our 2023 rankings named Saint Mary’s College of California the most popular school in California for education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large suburb of Moraga, SMC is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Of the 172 students majoring in education at SMC, 20% are male and 80% are female.

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#2

Northcentral University

San Diego, CA

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Northcentral University is a great place for education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of San Diego, Northcentral University is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Women make up 80% of the education majors at the school.

Read full report on Education at Northcentral University

The in-demand graduate certificate programs at University of California - Irvine helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular education schools in California. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a very large student population.

Of the 144 students majoring in education at UC Irvine, 24% are male and 76% are female.

Full Education at University of California - Irvine Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Southern California. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Popular Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Of the 82 students majoring in education at USC, 11% are male and 89% are female.

Read full report on Education at University of Southern California

The in-demand graduate certificate programs at University of California - Santa Barbara helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular education schools in California. Located in the suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public school with a very large student population.

Women make up 81% of the education majors at the school.

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#6

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco State University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular graduate certificate education programs. SFSU is a fairly large public school located in the large city of San Francisco.

Of the 63 students majoring in education at SFSU, 10% are male and 90% are female.

Read full report on Education at San Francisco State University

California State University - Los Angeles landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular graduate certificate education programs. Cal State LA is a very large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Women make up 77% of the education majors at the school.

Read full report on Education at California State University - Los Angeles

#8

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

San Diego State University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular graduate certificate education programs. SDSU is a very large public school located in the city of San Diego.

About 82% of the students majoring in education at the school are women while 18% are male.

Full Education at San Diego State University Report

With a ranking of #9, Azusa Pacific University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large suburb of Azusa, Azusa Pacific is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Of the 36 students majoring in education at Azusa Pacific, 14% are male and 86% are female.

Full Education at Azusa Pacific University Report

Vanguard University of Southern California did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Costa Mesa, Vanguard is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Women make up 77% of the education majors at the school.

Read More…

Best Education Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular 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.

  • 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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