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2025 Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

20 Colleges in the Far Western US Region
1,693 Master's Degrees
$67,939 Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #8 in popularity, special education is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual reviewed 20 schools in the Far Western US Region 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 1,693 master's degrees in special education during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Special Education School for Your Master's Degree

Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region Your choice of special education for getting your master's degree school matters. 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:

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for special education students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Special Education Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Special Ed Rankings Other Ranking Categories

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Special Education in the Far Western US Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in special education.

10 Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Master's in Special Ed

1

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in special education needs to check out California State University - Los Angeles. Cal State LA is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Special Education master's degree recipients from California State University - Los Angeles receive an earnings boost of approximately $16,044 above the average earnings of special education graduates.

More information about a master’s in special education from California State University - Los Angeles

2
National University crest
National University
San Diego, CA

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in special education needs to check out National University. Located in the city of San Diego, National University is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Those special education students who get their master's degree from National University make $2,733 more than the standard special ed student.

More information about a master’s in special education from National University

3

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in special education needs to look into University of Washington - Seattle Campus. Located in the large city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a very large student population.

Special Education master's degree recipients from University of Washington - Seattle Campus receive an earnings boost of around $5,610 over the typical earnings of special education graduates.

More information about a master’s in special education from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

4

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in special education needs to check out Point Loma Nazarene University. PLNU is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of San Diego.

Special Education master's degree recipients from Point Loma Nazarene University earn a boost of approximately $5,488 above the typical earnings of special education majors.

More information about a master’s in special education from Point Loma Nazarene University

5
47 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of San Bernardino, CSUSB is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in special education from California State University - San Bernardino

6

Fresno State is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Fresno.

Special Education master's degree recipients from California State University - Fresno receive an earnings boost of about $3,848 above the average earnings of special education majors.

More information about a master’s in special education from California State University - Fresno

7

Western Oregon State College is a small public university located in the town of Monmouth.

Soon after graduation, special ed master's recipients usually make an average of $61,018 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in special education from Western Oregon University

8

Whitworth is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Spokane.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the special ed program make around $63,554 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in special education from Whitworth University

9

UH Manoa is a fairly large public university located in the city of Honolulu.

Master's recipients from the special education degree program at University of Hawaii at Manoa get $3,316 more than the average college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in special education from University of Hawaii at Manoa

10

UNLV is a very large public university located in the city of Las Vegas.

Students who graduate with their master's from the special ed program report average early career income of $58,038.

More information about a master’s in special education from University of Nevada - Las Vegas

Best Special Education Colleges by State

Explore the best special education colleges for a specific state in the Far Western US Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
California 253 1,393
Washington 183 72
Oregon 158 160
Nevada 105 142
Hawaii 85 28
Alaska 52 21

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Special Education is one of 14 different types of Education programs to choose from.

Special Ed Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Special Education 1,609
Other Special Education & Teaching 34
Education of the Deaf 18
Education/Teaching of Individuals in Early Childhood Special Education Programs 11
Elementary Special Education 8
Education/Teaching of Individuals Who are Developmentally Delayed 7
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Autism 4
Education/Teaching of the Gifted & Talented 2

Related Major Annual Graduates
General Education 4,782
Teacher Education Grade Specific 4,489
Student Counseling 2,387
Educational Administration 1,926
Curriculum & Instruction 850
Teacher Education Subject Specific 740
Instructional Media Design 427
Teaching English or French 373
Educational Assessment 302
Other Education 83

Notes and References

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