Special Education is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #8 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
College Factual reviewed 466 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of special education. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 21,797 master's degrees in special education during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Choosing a Great Special Education School for Your Master's Degree
The special ed master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality special ed program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average Early-Career Salaries
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on special education students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - How many other special education students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
Student Debt - How easy is it for special 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 special education related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for special education students working on their master's degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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Featured Special Education Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
Use traditional, innovative and research-based approaches to learn about the instructional and transitional demands of children with special needs in this specialized online MEd from Southern New Hampshire University.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Special Education in the United States
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in special education. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Johns Hopkins University is a great decision for students pursuing a master's degree in special education. Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the special education program at Johns Hopkins University get $7,079 more than the typical college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
George Washington University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in special education. Located in the city of Washington, GWU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Special Education master's degree recipients from George Washington University earn a boost of approximately $8,988 above the average earnings of special education majors.
Hunter College is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in special education. Hunter is a very large public college located in the large city of New York.
Those special education students who get their master's degree from Hunter College earn $19,553 more than the average special ed student.
Any student who is interested in a master's degree in special education has to look into Syracuse University. Located in the midsize city of Syracuse, Syracuse is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Special Education master's degree recipients from Syracuse University get an earnings boost of about $7,997 over the typical income of special education graduates.
Teachers College is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.
Those special education students who get their master's degree from Teachers College at Columbia University receive $14,544 more than the typical special ed graduate.
Located in the city of Muncie, Ball State is a public university with a very large student population.
Special Education master's degree recipients from Ball State University get an earnings boost of approximately $2,506 above the average earnings of special education majors.
Fordham U is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Bronx.
Master's recipients from the special education program at Fordham University make $12,412 above the average college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
TCNJ is a medium-sized public college located in the large suburb of Ewing.
Special Education master's degree recipients from The College of New Jersey receive an earnings boost of approximately $7,393 over the average income of special education graduates.
Located in the suburb of Fairfax, GMU is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Special Education master's degree recipients from George Mason University earn a boost of approximately $8,580 over the typical earnings of special education majors.
UW Seattle is a fairly large public university located in the city of Seattle.
Those special education students who get their master's degree from University of Washington - Seattle Campus receive $15,523 more than the average special ed grad.
Touro is a large private not-for-profit college located in the large city of New York.
Special Education master's degree recipients from Touro College earn a boost of approximately $11,166 above the typical earnings of special education graduates.
CCNY is a fairly large public college located in the city of New York.
Those special education students who get their master's degree from The City College of New York earn $21,288 more than the typical special ed student.
Located in the large city of Queens, STJ is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.
Master's recipients from the special education major at St John's University - New York make $18,665 more than the standard college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Manhattan is a small private not-for-profit college located in the city of Riverdale.
Master's recipients from the special education degree program at Manhattan College get $19,373 above the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Located in the suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Special Education master's degree recipients from University of Maryland - College Park earn a boost of about $2,853 over the average income of special education majors.
Pace University is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York.
Master's recipients from the special education program at Pace University - New York get $17,603 more than the average college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
This section shows the remainder of the schools awarded a Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools badge.
Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 466 different United States special education schools we analyzed.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools award.
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).
college factual
The special ed master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality special ed program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
