2025 Best Special Education Associate Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

Special Education is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #77 most popular associate degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Special Education Associate Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,239 associate degrees in special education during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Average Early-Career Salaries

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their associate degree from the school. After all, your associate 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

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to special education students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of special education students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
• 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 special education students go into to obtain their associate 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 special education related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for special education students working on their associate degree.

More Ways to Rank Special Education Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Special Education Associate 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 Associate Students to Study Special Education in the Far Western US Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in special education.

Top Far Western US Region Schools for an Associate in Special Ed

1

College of Southern Nevada
Las Vegas, NV

26 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat College of Southern Nevada if you want to pursue an associate degree in special education. CSN is a fairly large public college located in the large city of Las Vegas.More information about a associate in special education from College of Southern Nevada

2

Chemeketa Community College
Salem, OR

42 Annual Graduates

$32,829 Median Starting Salary

Chemeketa Community College is a wonderful decision for individuals pursuing an associate degree in special education. Chemeketa Community College is a moderately-sized public college located in the suburb of Salem.

Associate students who receive their degree from the special ed program earn around $32,829 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a associate in special education from Chemeketa Community College

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	192	1,190
Oregon	147	43
Nevada	112	25

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Special Ed

One of 14 majors within the Education area of study, Special Education has other similar majors worth exploring.

Special Ed Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Education/Teaching of Individuals in Early Childhood Special Education Programs	1,159
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Speech or Language Impairments	42
General Special Education	31
Education of the Deaf	7

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific	1,048
Teaching Assistants	191
Teacher Education Subject Specific	50
General Education	45
Other Education	4
Multilingual Education	1

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 woodleywonderworks. More about our data sources and methodologies.