2023 Best Master's Degree 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.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Master's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 61 schools in Pennsylvania to see which master's degree 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 Master's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our 2023 rankings named Carnegie Mellon University the best school in Pennsylvania for students working on their master’s degree.
Carnegie Mellon 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, 6% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Out of the 61 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Pennsylvania landed the # 2 spot on the list.
One thing to take note of is that UPenn does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In 2019-2020 about 74% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Villanova University is a great place for students working on their master’s degree.
Villanova does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. In 2019-2020 about 89% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Out of the 61 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Elizabethtown College landed the # 4 spot on the list.
One thing to take note of is that Etown does offer online graduate classes in some areas. 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 be in good company if you decide to attend Lehigh University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Lehigh. In 2019-2020 about 24% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Thomas Jefferson University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.
Online graduate courses are available at Thomas Jefferson University, 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, 65% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Saint Vincent College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list.
Saint Vincent 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 9% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
University of Scranton did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at University of Scranton. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 93% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Westminster College Pennsylvania did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list.
Since the graduate programs at Westminster New Wilmington are online, the school is an excellent choice for graduate students who need more flexibility than what is offered at some other schools.
Saint Joseph’s University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list.
One thing to take note of is that St. Joe’s does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In fact, around 94% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
King’s College landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since King’s College PA does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In fact, around 47% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #12, Wilkes University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at Wilkes. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 97% took at least some of their classes online.
York College of Pennsylvania landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
YCP 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 25% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
DeSales University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.
One thing to take note of is that DeSales does offer online graduate classes in some areas. During the 2019-2020 year, about 57% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Duquesne University ranked #15 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Duquesne. In fact, around 72% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Arcadia University landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
One thing to take note of is that Arcadia does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In fact, around 67% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus ranked #17 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list.
Pitt 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 16% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Gannon University landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
Online graduate courses are available at Gannon, 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, 55% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #19, Saint Francis University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Saint Francis does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In fact, around 79% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Wilson College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #20 on the list.
Since the graduate programs at Wilson 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 #21, Robert Morris University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at RMU. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 60% took at least some of their classes online.
Marywood University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #22 on the list.
Marywood 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 33% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #23, Lock Haven University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
LHU 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 97% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
West Chester University of Pennsylvania landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at WCUPA. 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.
Chatham University came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.
Chatham does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. 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.
Best Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region
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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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