2023 Best Education Master's Degree Schools
Education is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #2 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual reviewed 873 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of education. Combined, these schools handed out 158,506 master's degrees in education to qualified students.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Education School for Your Master's Degree
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 make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to education students as compared to other majors.Major Demand - How many other education students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.Student Debt - How much debt education students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized education related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for education students working on their master's degree.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Education Master's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings , to help you make that decision.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Education in the United States
Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for education students seeking a a master's degree. 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 Master's in Education
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
697
Annual Graduates
Any student who is interested in a master's degree in education needs to take a look at Johns Hopkins University. Johns Hopkins is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Baltimore.More information about a master’s in education from Johns Hopkins University
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
662
Annual Graduates
It's hard to beat Harvard University if you want to pursue a master's degree in education. Harvard is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Cambridge.More information about a master’s in education from Harvard University
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
64
Annual Graduates
Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in education needs to take a look at Northwestern University. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Evanston.More information about a master’s in education from Northwestern University
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
129
Annual Graduates
Any student who is interested in a master's degree in education needs to take a look at Stanford University. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Stanford.More information about a master’s in education from Stanford University
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
537
Annual Graduates
Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in education from University of Pennsylvania
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
882
Annual Graduates
Located in the large city of New York, Teachers College is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in education from Teachers College at Columbia University
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
622
Annual Graduates
USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.More information about a master’s in education from University of Southern California
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
494
Annual Graduates
Located in the city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in education from New York University
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
1,713
Annual Graduates
Located in the city of New York, Relay Graduate School of Education is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.More information about a master’s in education from Relay Graduate School of Education
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
527
Annual Graduates
Boston U is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Boston.More information about a master’s in education from Boston University
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
342
Annual Graduates
Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in education from University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
70
Annual Graduates
UC Santa Cruz is a large public university located in the city of Santa Cruz.More information about a master’s in education from University of California - Santa Cruz
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
342
Annual Graduates
Located in the city of New York, Bank Street College of Education is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.More information about a master’s in education from Bank Street College of Education
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
110
Annual Graduates
Wake Forest University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Winston-Salem.More information about a master’s in education from Wake Forest University
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
293
Annual Graduates
Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in education from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
322
Annual Graduates
University of Virginia is a very large public university located in the small suburb of Charlottesville.More information about a master’s in education from University of Virginia - Main Campus
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
205
Annual Graduates
UMCP is a fairly large public university located in the large suburb of College Park.More information about a master’s in education from University of Maryland - College Park
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
38
Annual Graduates
Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in education from University of Chicago
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
241
Annual Graduates
Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Nashville.More information about a master’s in education from Vanderbilt University
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
189
Annual Graduates
Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in education from University of California - Los Angeles
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
278
Annual Graduates
Located in the medium-sized city of Athens, UGA is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in education from University of Georgia
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
387
Annual Graduates
Located in the city of Minneapolis, UMN Twin Cities is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in education from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
233
Annual Graduates
GWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Washington.More information about a master’s in education from George Washington University
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
282
Annual Graduates
Purdue is a fairly large public university located in the city of West Lafayette.More information about a master’s in education from Purdue University - Main Campus
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
219
Annual Graduates
Boston College is a fairly large private not-for-profit college located in the small city of Chestnut Hill.More information about a master’s in education from Boston College
Rest of the Top 50 Best Education Master's Degree Schools
Remaining Award Winners
This section represents the remainder of the schools awarded a Best Education Master's Degree Schools badge.
Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 873 different United States education schools we analyzed.
Rank
College
Location
50
Villanova University Villanova, PA
51
Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA
52
American University Washington, DC
53
University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA
54
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI
55
University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA
56
Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY
57
Duke University Durham, NC
58
Washington State University Pullman, WA
59
Azusa Pacific University Azusa, CA
60
Hofstra University Hempstead, NY
61
Rutgers University - New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ
62
Concordia University, Nebraska Seward, NE
63
Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX
64
Saint Mary’s College of California Moraga, CA
65
Claremont Graduate University Claremont, CA
66
Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY
67
Lewis & Clark College Portland, OR
68
Touro College New York, NY
69
Concordia University, Chicago River Forest, IL
70
Manhattan College Riverdale, NY
71
Georgia Southern University Statesboro, GA
72
University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA
73
Queens College Queens, NY
74
Western Governors University Salt Lake City, UT
75
University of California - Davis Davis, CA
76
Indiana University - Bloomington Bloomington, IN
77
Brandman University Irvine, CA
78
University of Dayton Dayton, OH
79
Seattle Pacific University Seattle, WA
80
Montclair State University Montclair, NJ
81
Pace University - New York New York, NY
82
Whitworth University Spokane, WA
83
University of Portland Portland, OR
84
Providence College Providence, RI
85
Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA
86
Auburn University Auburn, AL
87
Lehman College Bronx, NY
88
Drake University Des Moines, IA
89
Florida State University Tallahassee, FL
90
Kansas State University Manhattan, KS
91
University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR
92
DePaul University Chicago, IL
93
University of Mary Bismarck, ND
94
Fresno Pacific University Fresno, CA
95
University of the Pacific Stockton, CA
96
Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
97
Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA
98
St John’s University - New York Queens, NY
99
Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX
100
Marquette University Milwaukee, WI
101
University of Connecticut Storrs, CT
102
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC
103
Tufts University Medford, MA
104
University of Louisville Louisville, KY
105
Hamline University Saint Paul, MN
106
Clemson University Clemson, SC
107
LIU Post Brookville, NY
108
Brigham Young University - Provo Provo, UT
109
Hastings College Hastings, NE
110
Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA
111
University of Nebraska - Lincoln Lincoln, NE
112
Miami University - Oxford Oxford, OH
113
Western Washington University Bellingham, WA
114
Walden University Minneapolis, MN
115
Towson University Towson, MD
116
Temple University Philadelphia, PA
117
Rider University Lawrenceville, NJ
118
University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA
119
Fairfield University Fairfield, CT
120
Grand Canyon University Phoenix, AZ
121
Wisconsin Lutheran College Milwaukee, WI
122
National Louis University Chicago, IL
123
Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX
124
Iowa State University Ames, IA
125
Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH
126
Creighton University Omaha, NE
127
Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota Winona, MN
128
University of Phoenix - Arizona Tempe, AZ
129
Pacific University Forest Grove, OR
130
Wheaton College Illinois Wheaton, IL
Additional Noteworthy Schools
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Education Master's Degree Schools award.
Rank
College
Location
131
The College of Saint Scholastica Duluth, MN
132
California State University - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
133
Wagner College Staten Island, NY
134
James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA
135
Endicott College Beverly, MA
136
Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ
137
San Diego State University San Diego, CA
138
Oregon State University Corvallis, OR
139
Stevenson University Stevenson, MD
140
Georgia State University Atlanta, GA
141
Drexel University Philadelphia, PA
142
Bradley University Peoria, IL
143
University at Buffalo Buffalo, NY
144
West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA
145
California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA
146
Goucher College Baltimore, MD
147
Indiana Wesleyan University Marion, IN
148
University of Delaware Newark, DE
149
Samford University Birmingham, AL
150
University of San Diego San Diego, CA
151
Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS
152
William & Mary Williamsburg, VA
153
Manhattanville College Purchase, NY
154
University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, IL
155
Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI
156
The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX
157
Gonzaga University Spokane, WA
158
Concordia University, Irvine Irvine, CA
159
SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY
160
Northwestern College Orange City, IA
161
National University La Jolla, CA
162
University of Denver Denver, CO
163
University of Nevada - Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV
164
University of Iowa Iowa City, IA
165
University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND
166
University of Wisconsin - La Crosse La Crosse, WI
167
Trinity University San Antonio, TX
168
Lebanon Valley College Annville, PA
169
University of Central Florida Orlando, FL
170
University of South Carolina - Columbia Columbia, SC
171
University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA
172
Saint Michael’s College Colchester, VT
173
North Dakota State University - Main Campus Fargo, ND
174
Point Loma Nazarene University San Diego, CA
Education by Region
View the Best Education Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
View All Rankings >
Education Majors to Study
Major
Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific 29,374
Educational Administration 28,511
Special Education 21,797
Teacher Education Subject Specific 17,998
General Education 17,801
Curriculum & Instruction 16,825
Student Counseling 12,244
Instructional Media Design 6,799
Teaching English or French 3,450
Other Education 1,705
Related Major
Annual Graduates
Psychology 32,270
Social Sciences 16,693
Communication & Journalism 10,997
Library Science 5,485
History 3,509
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences 3,139
Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies 1,942
Notes and References
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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 the rest 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 ).
Credit for the banner image above goes to Horadrim .
More about our data sources and methodologies .
by our College Data Analytics Team
The education master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
