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Best Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California

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2023 Best Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California

10 Colleges
$49,862 Avg Salary
$22,246 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Special Education Graduate Certificate School for You

With 2,861 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, special education is the #45 most popular major in California.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 10 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 Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California

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

Top 10 Best Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Saint Mary’s College of California the best school in California for special education students working on their graduate certificate. SMC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Moraga.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Los Angeles. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, Cal State LA is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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Out of the 10 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Long Beach landed the # 3 spot on the list. CSULB is a fairly large public school located in the city of Long Beach.

Full Special Education at California State University - Long Beach Report

#4

National University

La Jolla, CA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend National University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the city of La Jolla, National University is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Read full report on Special Education at National University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Southern California. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

Full Special Education at University of Southern California Report

#6

Mills College

Oakland, CA

Mills College landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate special education programs. Mills is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Oakland.

Full Special Education at Mills College Report

With a ranking of #7, California State University - Northridge did quite well on this year’s best schools for special education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large city of Northridge, CSUN is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Special Education at California State University - Northridge

#8

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco State University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Special Education at San Francisco State University

#9

Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA

With a ranking of #9, Mount Saint Mary’s University did quite well on this year’s best schools for special education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of Los Angeles, MSMU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full Special Education at Mount Saint Mary’s University Report

#10

Holy Names University

Oakland, CA

With a ranking of #10, Holy Names University did quite well on this year’s best schools for special education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large city of Oakland, HNU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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Best Special Education Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Special Education Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 238
Oregon 234
Nevada 215
Hawaii 49
Alaska 52

One of 14 majors within the area of study, special education has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Special Ed

Related Major Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific 110,226
Educational Administration 46,469
Teacher Education Subject Specific 43,297
General Education 29,810
Curriculum & Instruction 19,832

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 10 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 woodleywonderworks.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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