2023 Best Value Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
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.
The Best Value Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 10 schools in California to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best value experiences for special ed students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
Top 10 Best Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools
Our analysis found California State University - Los Angeles to be the best value school for special education students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in California. Located in the city of Los Angeles, Cal State LA is a public school with a fairly large student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal State LA are $8,219 per year.
Full Special Education at California State University - Los Angeles Report
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Long Beach. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. CSULB is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Long Beach.
CSULB graduate students pay an average of $8,280 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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The excellent graduate certificate programs at California State University - Northridge helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value special education schools in California. Located in the city of Northridge, CSUN is a public college with a very large student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSUN are $8,477 per year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend San Francisco State University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the large city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public school with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at SFSU are $8,738 a year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend National University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the large city of La Jolla, National University is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at National University are $15,480 a year.
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Mount Saint Mary’s University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. Located in the city of Los Angeles, MSMU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
MSMU graduate students pay an average of $13,099 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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Saint Mary’s College of California did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for special education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. SMC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Moraga.
SMC graduate students pay an average of $33,357 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
SMC excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in California list.
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Holy Names University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for special education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the city of Oakland, HNU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at HNU are $18,590 per year.
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With a ranking of #9, Mills College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for special education students working on their graduate certificate. Mills is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Oakland.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Mills are $36,443 per year.
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With a ranking of #10, University of Southern California did quite well on this year’s best value schools for special education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
USC graduate students pay an average of $61,396 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Read full report on Special Education at University of Southern California
Request InformationBest Value Special Education Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Value Special Education Colleges 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 |
More Special Education Rankings in California
Majors Related to Special Ed
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.
- 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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