Ranked #29 in popularity, special education is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 8 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Special Education Schools in Alabama ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 477 degrees in special education to qualified students.
Your choice of special education school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for special education schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
The special ed school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Special Education Schools in Alabama.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the special ed degrees they offer, see the list below.
Every student who is interested in special education has to check out Auburn University. Auburn is a very large public university located in the city of Auburn. A Best Colleges rank of #169 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Auburn is a great university overall.
There were roughly 97 special education students who graduated with this degree at Auburn in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, special ed degree recipients generally make around $46,540 in the first five years of their career.
The University of Alabama is a wonderful decision for students interested in a degree in special education. UA is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Tuscaloosa. A Best Colleges rank of #180 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UA is a great university overall.
There were roughly 70 special education students who graduated with this degree at UA in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the special ed program state that they receive average early career wages of $45,631.
University of Alabama at Birmingham is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in special education. Located in the city of Birmingham, UAB is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #299 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UAB is a great university overall.
There were roughly 28 special education students who graduated with this degree at UAB in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, special ed degree recipients typically make about $50,356 at the beginning of their careers.
Athens State University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in special education. Athens State University is a small public university located in the fringe town of Athens. This university ranks 18th out of 42 schools for overall quality in the state of Alabama.
There were approximately 25 special education students who graduated with this degree at Athens State University in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the special ed program report average early career income of $43,668.
UNA is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Florence. This university ranks 22nd out of 42 schools for overall quality in the state of Alabama.
There were roughly 17 special education students who graduated with this degree at UNA in the most recent data year.
Located in the small suburb of Jacksonville, Jacksonville State University is a public university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 25th out of 42 colleges for overall quality in the state of Alabama.
There were about 34 special education students who graduated with this degree at Jacksonville State University in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the special ed program report average early career income of $51,358.
USA is a large public university located in the midsize city of Mobile. A Best Colleges rank of #737 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means USA is a great university overall.
There were approximately 16 special education students who graduated with this degree at USA in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, special ed degree recipients usually make around $53,827 in their early careers.
Located in the medium-sized city of Normal, AAMU is a public university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 39th out of 42 colleges for overall quality in the state of Alabama.
There were roughly 12 special education students who graduated with this degree at AAMU in the most recent year we have data available.
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).
Your choice of special education school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for special education schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
