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Teacher Certification Degrees Ranking Methodology

Our goal is to provide current and aspiring teachers with unbiased information to support their careers in education. Our rankings support that goal by integrating data from authoritative sources like the National Center for Education Statistics to uncover the top schools based on academic quality and value. To be included on any ranking list, a school must be not-for-profit and hold accreditation from a reputable body, such as one of the former regional accreditors. Read more about our approach by category below.

Table of Contents

Best Online Master’s Programs for Initial Licensure

Our ranking of the top master’s in education programs that can lead to initial certification is based on:

  • School must be not-for-profit and hold accreditation from a reputable body, such as one of the former regional accreditors.
  • Tuition cost per credit hour
  • Institutional graduation rates
  • Relevant school and program rankings
  • The percentage of students taking online courses
  • Average years of experience faculty have teaching online courses
  • Percentage of full-time tenured faculty
  • Accreditation by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)

Best Online Master of Education Programs by State

Our model for the best online Master of Education programs by state scores online and hybrid programs based on scoring a school based on:

  • School must be not-for-profit and hold accreditation from a reputable body, such as one of the former regional accreditors.
  • Accreditation by the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) or the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). This was chosen since it is an education-specific accreditation, is voluntary, and signals quality. Schools were assigned a positive score for accreditation or a zero score for no accreditation.
  • Number of M.Ed. program tracks. Having more than one program offering for this degree type was given additional value.
  • Relevant school and program rankings. We gave points for being on the US News & World Report National University and/or US News & World Report Best Education Schools rankings. Ranking position (e.g., #20 vs. #200) was also factored. No ranking equaled a zero score.
  • Affordability based on tuition (average required credit hours multiplied by graduate tuition rate). We broke all schools into cohorts and scored by cohort within a state, with the least expensive schools getting the highest scores.
  • In the event of a tie, the school with lower average tuition is placed higher in the ranking.

Note that the scoring factors for this model were fairly equally weighted, though slightly higher weights for affordability were granted.