2023 Best Graduate Certificate Schools
There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Also, there are a number of trade schools and bootcamp with offerings that you might find attractive.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Graduate Certificate Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 773 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best graduate certificate programs 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.
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Top Graduate Certificate Schools in the United States
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found Fielding Graduate University to be the best school for students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in the United States. Fielding is a very small private not-for-profit school situated in Santa Barbara, California. It awarded 121 graduate certificates in .
Online graduate courses are available at Fielding, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. In fact, around 97% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2022-2023.
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Out of the 773 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Presidio Graduate School landed the # 2 spot on the list. Presidio Graduate School is a very small private not-for-profit school located in San Francisco, California that handed out 8 graduate certificates in .
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The excellent graduate certificate programs at Northwestern University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in the United States. Northwestern is located in Evanston, Illinois and has a large student population. In , this school awarded 202 graduate certificates to qualified students.
One thing to take note of is that Northwestern does offer online graduate classes in some areas. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 19% of graduates took at least one course online in 2022-2023.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Santa Clara University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Graduate Certificate Schools list. Santa Clara, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out graduate certificates to 24 students in .
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since SCU does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In 2022-2023 about 13% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Lebanon Valley College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Graduate Certificate Schools list. Annville, Pennsylvania is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out graduate certificates to 61 students in .
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at LVC. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2022-2023 academic year, around 57% took at least some of their classes online.
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Stephens College came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Stephens College is a very small private not-for-profit school located in Columbia, Missouri that handed out 1 graduate certificates in .
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Stephens does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In fact, around 38% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2022-2023.
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Keck Graduate Institute came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. KGI is located in Claremont, California and has a very small student population. In , this school awarded 137 graduate certificates to qualified students.
KGI does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. In fact, around 24% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2022-2023.
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University of Washington - Seattle Campus came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. UW Seattle is located in Seattle, Washington and has a large student population. In , this school awarded 13 graduate certificates to qualified students.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at UW Seattle. In 2022-2023 about 15% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
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Michigan Technological University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. Houghton, Michigan is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out graduate certificates to 137 students in .
Online graduate courses are available at Michigan Tech, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. In fact, around 28% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2022-2023.
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Claremont Graduate University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Claremont Graduate University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Claremont, California. It awarded 114 graduate certificates in .
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Claremont Graduate University. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2022-2023 academic year, around 52% took at least some of their classes online.
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With a ranking of #11, University of Virginia - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their graduate certificate. University of Virginia - Main Campus is a large public school located in Charlottesville, Virginia that handed out 695 graduate certificates in .
One thing to take note of is that University of Virginia does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In 2022-2023 about 10% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
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With a ranking of #12, University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their graduate certificate. UPenn is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It awarded 177 graduate certificates in .
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since UPenn does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. During the 2022-2023 year, about 19% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
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With a ranking of #13, University of Chicago did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their graduate certificate. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 623 graduate certificate awards in .
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since UChicago does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In fact, around 0% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2022-2023.
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Harvard University landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate programs. Harvard is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has a large student population. In , this school awarded 1,531 graduate certificates to qualified students.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at Harvard. In fact, around 34% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2022-2023.
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Stanford University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #16 on the list. Stanford, California is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out graduate certificates to 3 students in .
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Stanford. In 2022-2023 about 8% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
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Duke University landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate programs. Duke University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in Durham, North Carolina that handed out 477 graduate certificates in .
Duke does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. In fact, around 18% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2022-2023.
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Elizabethtown College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #18 on the list. This small private not-for-profit school is located in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 37 graduate certificates in .
One thing to take note of is that Etown does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In 2022-2023 about 57% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
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The College of New Jersey ranked #19 on this year’s Best Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in Ewing, New Jersey, the medium-sized public school handed out 89 graduate certificate awards in .
TCNJ does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. During the 2022-2023 year, about 31% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
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Wisconsin Lutheran College came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools ranking.
One thing to take note of is that WLC does offer online graduate classes in some areas. During the 2022-2023 year, about 93% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
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With a ranking of #21, Villanova University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their graduate certificate. Villanova University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in Villanova, Pennsylvania that handed out 337 graduate certificates in .
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Villanova. In fact, around 47% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2022-2023.
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Southwestern College ranked #22 on this year’s Best Graduate Certificate Schools list. SC is located in Winfield, Kansas and has a small student population. In , this school awarded 6 graduate certificates to qualified students.
SC does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 76% of graduates took at least one course online in 2022-2023.
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Seattle Pacific University came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. SPU is a private not-for-profit institution located in Seattle, Washington. The school has a small population, and it awarded 114 graduate certificates in .
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at SPU. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 51% of graduates took at least one course online in 2022-2023.
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With a ranking of #24, Virginia Tech did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their graduate certificate. Blacksburg, Virginia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out graduate certificates to 602 students in .
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at Virginia Tech. In fact, around 45% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2022-2023.
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With a ranking of #25, Tufts University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their graduate certificate. Located in Medford, Massachusetts, the fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 204 graduate certificate awards in .
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Tufts. In fact, around 25% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2022-2023.
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Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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