General Education is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #12 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 134 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best General Education Master's Degree Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 14,076 master's degrees in general education to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great General Education School for Your Master's Degree
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. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
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.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
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 general education students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - How many other general 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 easy is it for general education to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized general education related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for general education students working on their master's degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best General Education Master's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study General Education in the United States
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in general education. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
It is difficult to beat Purdue University - Main Campus if you want to pursue a master's degree in general education. Purdue is a very large public university located in the city of West Lafayette.
Those general education students who get their master's degree from Purdue University - Main Campus earn $3,781 more than the standard education graduate.
Azusa Pacific University is a good decision for individuals pursuing a master's degree in general education. Azusa Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Azusa.
Master's recipients from the general education program at Azusa Pacific University make $6,780 more than the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a great choice for individuals interested in a master's degree in general education. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a very large student population.
Those general education students who get their master's degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign make $5,606 more than the average education student.
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in general education. U-M is a fairly large public university located in the city of Ann Arbor.
Soon after graduating, education master's recipients generally make about $52,160 at the beginning of their careers.
Located in the city of San Diego, National University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the general education program at National University get $5,669 more than the typical graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Located in the city of Riverside, UCR is a public university with a fairly large student population.
General Education master's degree recipients from University of California - Riverside get an earnings boost of approximately $4,094 over the typical earnings of general education graduates.
Located in the large city of Saint Paul, Hamline is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
General Education master's degree recipients from Hamline University earn a boost of about $10,913 above the typical earnings of general education graduates.
Located in the city of Riverside, Cal Baptist is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Those general education students who get their master's degree from California Baptist University make $10,246 more than the standard education graduate.
CSUDH is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Carson.
Those general education students who get their master's degree from California State University - Dominguez Hills earn $11,103 more than the typical education student.
Located in the large city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the general education program at California State University - Sacramento get $20,512 above the average college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Southern Utah University is a fairly large public university located in the town of Cedar City.
Master's recipients from the general education major at Southern Utah University make $14,300 more than the typical graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
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).
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. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
