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.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Fielding does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 97% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Presidio Graduate School. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Graduate Certificate Schools list.
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.
On average, graduate certificate students take out $21,679 in loans while pursuing their degree.
One thing to take note of is that Northwestern does offer online graduate classes in some areas. During the 2019-2020 year, about 2% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Santa Clara University is a great place for students working on their graduate certificate.
By the time they get their graduate certificate, students from this school have racked up an average of $18,093 in student loans.
SCU 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 2019-2020 about 10% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
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.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at LVC. In fact, around 81% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #6, Stephens College did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their graduate certificate.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at Stephens. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 37% took at least some of their classes online.
With a ranking of #7, Keck Graduate Institute did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their graduate certificate.
Graduate Certificate recipients from KGI accumulate an average of $24,498 in student debt by the time they complete their degree.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at KGI. In 2019-2020 about 4% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
University of Washington - Seattle Campus landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate programs.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at UW Seattle. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 7% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Michigan Technological University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate programs.
Michigan Tech 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, 30% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Claremont Graduate University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Graduate Certificate Schools list.
Claremont Graduate University 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. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 67% took at least some of their classes online.
University of Virginia - Main Campus landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate programs.
University of Virginia does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 75% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
University of Pennsylvania landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate programs.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at UPenn. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 74% took at least some of their classes online.
University of Chicago did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #13 on the list.
Harvard University landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate programs.
Graduate Certificate recipients from Harvard accumulate an average of $19,755 in student debt by the time they complete their degree.
Online graduate courses are available at Harvard, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 96% took at least some of their classes online.
With a ranking of #15, Linfield University - Online and Continuing Education did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their graduate certificate.
Since the graduate programs at Linfield OCE are online, the school is an excellent choice for graduate students who need more flexibility than what is offered at some other schools.
With a ranking of #16, Stanford University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their graduate certificate.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at Stanford. In fact, around 10% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #17, Duke University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their graduate certificate.
By the time they get their graduate certificate, students from this school have racked up an average of $17,440 in student loans.
Online graduate courses are available at Duke, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 2% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
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.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at Etown. In 2019-2020 about 72% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
The College of New Jersey came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools ranking.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at TCNJ. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 99% took at least some of their classes online.
Wisconsin Lutheran College landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate programs.
One thing to take note of is that WLC does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In fact, around 75% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Villanova University came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools ranking.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Villanova. In 2019-2020 about 89% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Southwestern College came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools ranking.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since SC does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. During the 2019-2020 year, about 84% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
With a ranking of #23, Seattle Pacific University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their graduate certificate.
SPU does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 83% took at least some of their classes online.
Virginia Tech ranked #24 on this year’s Best Graduate Certificate Schools list.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Virginia Tech. In 2019-2020 about 63% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Tufts University ranked #25 on this year’s Best Graduate Certificate Schools list.
Tufts does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 88% took at least some of their classes online.
Rest of the Top 50 Best Graduate Certificate Schools in the United States
Not only did these schools make the top 50 list, but they also landed in the top 15% of this year’s ranking:
Narrow Schools by Region
Rest of the Top 15% Best Graduate Certificate Schools in the United States
To learn more about the schools below, just click on their names:
Honorable Mentions
These schools also performed well in our best schools ranking:
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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