If you pursue a master's degree in special education, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #8 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual looked at 55 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 5,021 master's degrees in special education to qualified students.
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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
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 complete 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.
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list to help you make the college decision.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Special Education in the Middle Atlantic Region
Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for special education students seeking a a master's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
11 Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools for a Master's in Special Ed
Hunter College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in special education. Hunter is a fairly large public college located in the large city of New York.
Special Education master's degree recipients from Hunter College receive an earnings boost of about $15,119 over the average income of special education majors.
Brooklyn College is a good option for individuals interested in a master's degree in special education. Located in the large city of Brooklyn, Brooklyn College is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the special education degree program at Brooklyn College make $15,615 above the typical college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Any student who is interested in a master's degree in special education has to take a look at Syracuse University. Located in the medium-sized city of Syracuse, Syracuse is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Students who graduate with their master's from the special ed program report average early career wages of $60,047.
The College of New Jersey is a great decision for individuals pursuing a master's degree in special education. TCNJ is a medium-sized public college located in the large suburb of Ewing.
Master's recipients from the special education program at The College of New Jersey get $2,696 above the average graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
CCNY is a large public college located in the city of New York.
Master's recipients from the special education degree program at The City College of New York make $14,773 above the typical graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Located in the suburb of Brookville, LIU Post is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the special education major at LIU Post make $13,805 more than the typical college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
QC is a fairly large public college located in the large city of Queens.
Special Education master's degree recipients from Queens College get an earnings boost of around $12,433 above the average income of special education graduates.
Hofstra is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Hempstead.
Master's recipients from the special education degree program at Hofstra University make $14,201 above the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Adelphi is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Garden City.
Special Education master's degree recipients from Adelphi University receive an earnings boost of around $5,510 over the average earnings of special education graduates.
Located in the large city of Queens, STJ is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the special education program at St John's University - New York earn $13,378 above the average college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Here are some additional great schools for Special Education students in the Middle Atlantic Region that almost earned our Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region 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).