2023 Best Value Graduate Certificate Schools in Virginia
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Prices
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools and bootcamps that offer fast-track entry to many fields.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Graduate Certificate Schools in Virginia ranking. Our analysis looked at 15 schools in Virginia 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.
When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
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Top Value Graduate Certificate Schools in Virginia
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found Virginia Tech to be the best value school for students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in Virginia. This large public school is located in Blacksburg, Virginia, and it awarded 379 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Virginia Tech are $31,443 per year.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Virginia Tech does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In fact, around 63% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Virginia Tech not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #2 on our Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Virginia list.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Liberty University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Graduate Certificate Schools in Virginia list. Liberty University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Lynchburg, Virginia. The school has a large population, and it awarded 1,102 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Liberty University are $8,360 per year.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Liberty University. In fact, around 97% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
The excellent graduate certificate programs at James Madison University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value schools in Virginia. Located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, the large public school awarded 50 diplomas to qualifed graduate certificate students in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at JMU are $29,746 a year.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at JMU. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 68% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Lynchburg is a great place for students working on their graduate certificate who want the most bang for their educational buck. University of Lynchburg is a small private not-for-profit school located in Lynchburg, Virginia that handed out 63 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Lynchburg are $11,759 a year.
Lynchburg 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 78% took at least some of their classes online.
A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of Virginia - Main Campus is a great place for students working on their graduate certificate who want the most bang for their educational buck. This large public school is located in Charlottesville, Virginia, and it awarded 194 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at University of Virginia are $33,520 a year.
One thing to take note of is that University of Virginia does offer online graduate classes in some areas. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 75% took at least some of their classes online.
University of Virginia did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Virginia list.
With a ranking of #6, Eastern Mennonite University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for students working on their graduate certificate. Eastern Mennonite University is a small private not-for-profit school located in Harrisonburg, Virginia that handed out 40 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Eastern Mennonite are $15,270 a year.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Eastern Mennonite does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In 2019-2020 about 82% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Eastern Mennonite is ranked #5 for overall quality in Virginia.
With a ranking of #7, George Mason University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for students working on their graduate certificate. Located in Fairfax, Virginia, the large public school handed out 840 graduate certificate awards in 2020-2021.
GMU graduate students pay an average of $37,956 in tuition and fees each year.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at GMU. In fact, around 87% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
GMU also took the #3 spot in our Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Virginia rankings.
Radford 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 #8 on the list. Radford, Virginia is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out graduate certificates to 39 students in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Radford are $21,508 a year.
Online graduate courses are available at Radford, 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, 87% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
William & Mary did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value places for students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. William & Mary is located in Williamsburg, Virginia and has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 45 graduate certificates to qualified students.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at William & Mary are $34,978 per year.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at William & Mary. In 2019-2020 about 85% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
William & Mary not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #4 on our Best Graduate Certificate Schools in Virginia list.
Old Dominion University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate programs. Old Dominion is a public institution located in Norfolk, Virginia. The school has a large population, and it awarded 139 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Old Dominion are $33,288 a year.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Old Dominion. During the 2019-2020 year, about 82% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Virginia Commonwealth University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Graduate Certificate Schools in Virginia list. This large public school is located in Richmond, Virginia, and it awarded 293 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
VCU graduate students pay an average of $29,546 in tuition and fees each year. Graduate Certificate recipients from this school accumulate an average of $33,341 in student debt by the time they complete their degree.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at VCU. In 2019-2020 about 62% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
University of Richmond ranked #12 on this year’s Best Value Graduate Certificate Schools in Virginia list. This small private not-for-profit school is located in University of Richmond, Virginia, and it awarded 29 graduate certificates in 2020-2021.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at URichmond are $25,620 a year.
Marymount 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 #13 on the list. Marymount is located in Arlington, Virginia and has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 12 graduate certificates to qualified students.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Marymount are $21,016 a year.
One thing to take note of is that Marymount does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In fact, around 68% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Shenandoah University landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate programs. Located in Winchester, Virginia, the small private not-for-profit school awarded 92 diplomas to qualifed graduate certificate students in 2020-2021.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Shenandoah are $23,430 per year.
Shenandoah does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. In 2019-2020 about 79% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Regent University landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate programs. Virginia Beach, Virginia is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out graduate certificates to 36 students in 2020-2021.
Regent graduate students pay an average of $17,190 in tuition and fees each year.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Regent. In 2019-2020 about 94% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Best Value Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region
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More Virginia Rankings
Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 15 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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