2023 Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania
It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Also there are many trade schools and bpptcamp that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
The Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 40 schools in Pennsylvania to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best educational experiences for students. The factors used to develop this ranking include those related to how in-demand the school us, the overall quality of the school, and post-graduation wages, and more.
View our full ranking methodology.
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Top Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found Lebanon Valley College to be the best school for students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in Pennsylvania.
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.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Pennsylvania. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania list.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at UPenn. During the 2019-2020 year, about 74% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Elizabethtown College is a great place for students working on their graduate certificate.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Etown. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 72% took at least some of their classes online.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Villanova University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania list.
Online graduate courses are available at Villanova, 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 89% took at least some of their classes online.
The excellent graduate certificate programs at Saint Joseph’s University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in Pennsylvania.
Graduate Certificate recipients from St. Joe’s accumulate an average of $37,827 in student debt by the time they complete their degree.
St. Joe’s does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. In 2019-2020 about 94% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
University of Scranton landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate programs.
University of Scranton 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 93% took at least some of their classes online.
Carnegie Mellon University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Carnegie Mellon does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In fact, around 6% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Thomas Jefferson University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate programs.
On average, graduate certificate students take out $34,734 in loans while pursuing their degree.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Thomas Jefferson University. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 65% took at least some of their classes online.
Lehigh University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.
Online graduate courses are available at Lehigh, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. During the 2019-2020 year, about 24% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
DeSales University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate programs.
DeSales does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. During the 2019-2020 year, about 57% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Cedar Crest College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania list.
One thing to take note of is that Cedar Crest does offer online graduate classes in some areas. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 79% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Drexel University came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.
On average, graduate certificate students take out $23,548 in loans while pursuing their degree.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Drexel. During the 2019-2020 year, about 85% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
With a ranking of #13, Gannon 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 Gannon. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 55% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
York College of Pennsylvania came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.
YCP 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 25% took at least some of their classes online.
University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.
Graduate Certificate recipients from Pitt accumulate an average of $22,469 in student debt by the time they complete their degree.
Online graduate courses are available at Pitt, 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 16% took at least some of their classes online.
Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Bloomsburg does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 91% took at least some of their classes online.
Robert Morris University came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at RMU. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 60% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #18, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their graduate certificate.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at SRU. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 94% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Read full report on Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
With a ranking of #19, West Chester University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their graduate certificate.
WCUPA 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 98% took at least some of their classes online.
Duquesne University came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.
Duquesne 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 72% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
California University of Pennsylvania landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate programs.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Cal U does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In 2019-2020 about 90% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
With a ranking of #22, Messiah 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 Messiah. In fact, around 90% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania ranked #23 on this year’s Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania list.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at Ship. During the 2019-2020 year, about 90% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.
Online graduate courses are available at Edinboro, 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 94% took at least some of their classes online.
Point Park University landed the #25 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 Point Park. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 85% took at least some of their classes online.
Best Graduate Certificate Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region
View Best Graduate Certificate Schools Nationwide >
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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