2023 Best Value Graduate Certificate Schools in Alabama
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Prices
There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools and bootcamps that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Graduate Certificate Schools in Alabama ranking. Our analysis looked at 13 schools in Alabama to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best value experiences for students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.
For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
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Top Value Graduate Certificate Schools in Alabama
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found Columbia Southern University to be the best value school for students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in Alabama. Located in Orange Beach, Alabama, the fairly large private for-profit school handed out 58 graduate certificate awards in 2020-2021.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Columbia Southern University are $4,035 per year. Graduate Certificate recipients from this school accumulate an average of $31,086 in student debt by the time they complete their degree.
Since the graduate programs at Columbia Southern University are primarily online, it is a great choice for returning adults and students who work full time.
Columbia Southern University did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Alabama list.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of West Alabama. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Graduate Certificate Schools in Alabama list. University of West Alabama is located in Livingston, Alabama and has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 186 graduate certificates to qualified students.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at University of West Alabama are $13,546 a year.
One thing to take note of is that University of West Alabama does offer online graduate classes in some areas. During the 2019-2020 year, about 96% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
University of West Alabama not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #4 on our Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Alabama list.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Alabama at Birmingham. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Graduate Certificate Schools in Alabama list. This large public school is located in Birmingham, Alabama, and it awarded 245 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UAB are $19,188 a year.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at UAB. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 58% took at least some of their classes online.
UAB did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Alabama list.
The excellent graduate certificate programs at University of North Alabama helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value schools in Alabama. UNA is a public institution located in Florence, Alabama. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 78 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UNA are $13,860 per year.
One thing to take note of is that UNA does offer online graduate classes in some areas. During the 2019-2020 year, about 95% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of South Alabama is a great place for students working on their graduate certificate who want the most bang for their educational buck. Mobile, Alabama is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out graduate certificates to 165 students in 2020-2021.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at USA are $16,652 per year.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at USA. 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.
Auburn University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value places for students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. Auburn is located in Auburn, Alabama and has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 360 graduate certificates to qualified students.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Auburn are $31,986 a year.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Auburn. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 35% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Auburn did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Alabama list.
Troy University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Graduate Certificate Schools in Alabama list. Troy, Alabama is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out graduate certificates to 49 students in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at TROY are $17,100 a year.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since TROY does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. During the 2019-2020 year, about 77% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Auburn University at Montgomery ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Graduate Certificate Schools in Alabama list. AUM is a public institution located in Montgomery, Alabama. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 57 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
AUM graduate students pay an average of $17,812 in tuition and fees each year.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at AUM. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 77% took at least some of their classes online.
The University of Alabama landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate programs. This large public school is located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and it awarded 26 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
UA graduate students pay an average of $30,940 in tuition and fees each year.
One thing to take note of is that UA does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In 2019-2020 about 71% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
With a ranking of #10, Jacksonville State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for students working on their graduate certificate. Jacksonville, Alabama is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out graduate certificates to 83 students in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Jacksonville State University are $20,200 a year.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Jacksonville State University. In 2019-2020 about 93% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
University of Montevallo ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Graduate Certificate Schools in Alabama list. Located in Montevallo, Alabama, the small public school awarded 18 diplomas to qualifed graduate certificate students in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Montevallo are $26,532 a year.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Montevallo. During the 2019-2020 year, about 86% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
University of Alabama in Huntsville came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Graduate Certificate Schools in Alabama ranking. UAH is a medium-sized public school situated in Huntsville, Alabama. It awarded 43 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UAH are $25,484 a year.
One thing to take note of is that UAH does offer online graduate classes in some areas. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 88% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #13, Samford University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for students working on their graduate certificate. This medium-sized private not-for-profit school is located in Birmingham, Alabama, and it awarded 17 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Samford are $21,575 per year.
One thing to take note of is that Samford does offer online graduate classes in some areas. During the 2019-2020 year, about 53% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Samford also made our Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Alabama list, coming in at #3.
Best Value Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region
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Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 13 schools only.
References
- 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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