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2024 Best Education Doctor's Degree Schools

408 Colleges in the United States
13,937 Doctor's Degrees
$77,195 Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #3 in popularity, education is one of the most sought-after doctor's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 408 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Education Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 13,937 doctor's degrees in education during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Education School for Your Doctor's Degree

Best Education Doctor's Degree Schools Your choice of education for getting your doctor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality education program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their doctor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for education students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Education Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Education Rankings Other Ranking Categories

The education school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Education Doctor's Degree Schools.


 

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Education in the United States

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in education. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

25 Top Schools for a Doctorate in Education

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
315 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat University of Southern California if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in education. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in education from University of Southern California

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
113 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a doctor's degree in education needs to check out Teachers College at Columbia University. Teachers College is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York.More information about a doctorate in education from Teachers College at Columbia University

3
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
70 Annual Graduates

University of Pennsylvania is a great decision for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in education. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia.More information about a doctorate in education from University of Pennsylvania

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Northwestern University if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in education. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in education from Northwestern University

5
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
33 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in education from Harvard University

6
NYU crest
New York University
New York, NY
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
28 Annual Graduates

NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a doctorate in education from New York University

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
51 Annual Graduates

A T Still University of Health Sciences is a small private not-for-profit university located in the town of Kirksville.More information about a doctorate in education from A T Still University of Health Sciences

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
21 Annual Graduates

Claremont Graduate University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Claremont.More information about a doctorate in education from Claremont Graduate University

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
48 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in education from Johns Hopkins University

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
10 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Waco, Baylor is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in education from Baylor University

11
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
49 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in education from Vanderbilt University

12
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
17 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in education from Stanford University

13
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
87 Annual Graduates

UGA is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Athens.More information about a doctorate in education from University of Georgia

14
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
41 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in education from University of Maryland - College Park

15
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
38 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in education from Purdue University - Main Campus

16
UF crest
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
57 Annual Graduates

UF is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Gainesville.More information about a doctorate in education from University of Florida

17
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
75 Annual Graduates

UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign.More information about a doctorate in education from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

18
Boston U crest
Boston University
Boston, MA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
28 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in education from Boston University

19
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
51 Annual Graduates

UW Seattle is a very large public university located in the city of Seattle.More information about a doctorate in education from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

20
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
76 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized suburb of Biddeford, UNE is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in education from University of New England

21
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
83 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in education from Concordia University, Chicago

22
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
54 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Washington, GWU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in education from George Washington University

23
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
14 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in education from Loyola Marymount University

24
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
47 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Lexington, UK is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in education from University of Kentucky

25
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
68 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Omaha, Creighton is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in education from Creighton University

Rest of the Top Best Education Doctor's Degree Schools

26
27
Walden University crest
Walden University
Minneapolis, MN
27
Virginia Tech crest
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA
28
Boston College crest
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA
29
30
31
Drexel crest
Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA

32
NUS Florida crest
Nova Southeastern University
Fort Lauderdale, FL

33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40

41
Iowa crest
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA

42
Capella University crest
Capella University
Minneapolis, MN
43
44
45
46
47
48
Auburn crest
Auburn University
Auburn, AL
49

Additional Award Winners

This section represents the remainder of the colleges awarded a Best Education Doctor's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 408 different United States education schools we analyzed.

Rank College Location
50 University of St Thomas Minnesota Saint Paul, MN
51 Oregon State University Corvallis, OR
52 Washington State University Pullman, WA
53 University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA
54 William & Mary Williamsburg, VA
55 University of California - Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA
56 University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND
57 Seattle University Seattle, WA
58 University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA
59 University of Miami Coral Gables, FL
60 Rutgers University - New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ
61 Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for Education students that almost earned our Best Education Doctor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
62 University of Missouri - Columbia Columbia, MO
63 University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR
64 Samford University Birmingham, AL
65 University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI
66 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
67 University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
68 Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA
69 California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA
70 National Louis University Chicago, IL
71 Rowan University Glassboro, NJ
71 Gonzaga University Spokane, WA
73 University of Nebraska - Lincoln Lincoln, NE
74 Syracuse University Syracuse, NY
75 Florida State University Tallahassee, FL
76 Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock, PA
77 Bradley University Peoria, IL
78 Biola University La Mirada, CA
79 California State University - San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA
80 Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX
81 Illinois State University Normal, IL

Education by Region

View the Best Education Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

Education Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Educational Administration 7,684
General Education 2,177
Curriculum & Instruction 1,434
Teacher Education Subject Specific 495
Teacher Education Grade Specific 431
Other Education 426
Student Counseling 418
Educational Assessment 270
Instructional Media Design 205
Special Education 204

Related Major Annual Graduates
Library Science 12

Notes and References

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