Ranked by graduate earnings
Best colleges for Special Education
50 Special Education programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion - from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.
Quick answer
For Special Education, California State University-Los Angeles (California) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $104,208. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion - not reputation or cost - across 50 programs with published outcome data.
| # | School | Credential | Median earnings | Median debt | Completers | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ![]() Los Angeles, CA | Master's Degree | $104,208 | $20,500 | 63 | 94.5 |
| 2 | ![]() Long Beach, CA | Master's Degree | $91,444 | $17,157 | 29 | 93.6 |
| 3 | Staten Island, NY | Master's Degree | $86,157 | $18,524 | 41 | 93.5 |
| 4 | ![]() Logan, UT | Bachelor's Degree | $74,535 | $11,250 | 80 | 91.7 |
| 5 | ![]() Queens, NY | Master's Degree | $85,359 | $21,433 | 60 | 91.5 |
| 6 | ![]() Thousand Oaks, CA | Master's Degree | $81,041 | $14,600 | 23 | 90.9 |
| 7 | New York, NY | Master's Degree | $94,601 | $23,914 | 55 | 90.5 |
| 8 | CBC Brooklyn, NY | Master's Degree | $90,918 | $24,807 | 130 | 90.3 |
| 9 | ![]() Vallejo, CA | Master's Degree | $84,787 | $16,063 | 14 | 89.9 |
| 10 | ![]() Bronx, NY | Master's Degree | $84,758 | $25,000 | 147 | 88.6 |
| 11 | ![]() New York, NY | Master's Degree | $80,111 | $24,332 | 705 | 87.9 |
| 12 | Master's Degree | $95,089 | - | 41 | 86.9 | |
| 13 | ![]() Fullerton, CA | Master's Degree | $95,677 | $25,320 | - | 85.7 |
| 14 | ![]() San Francisco, CA | Master's Degree | $76,580 | $24,072 | 64 | 85.4 |
| 15 | ![]() San Bernardino, CA | Master's Degree | $87,254 | - | 35 | 85.3 |
| 16 | Salt Lake City, UT | Master's Degree | $73,872 | $20,689 | 39 | 85.3 |
| 17 | ![]() Riverdale, NY | Master's Degree | $87,967 | $25,131 | 22 | 84.9 |
| 18 | Northridge, CA | Master's Degree | $85,826 | - | 35 | 84.8 |
| 19 | Fairfax, VA | Master's Degree | $72,192 | $23,695 | 267 | 84.5 |
| 20 | Fresno, CA | Master's Degree | $80,228 | - | 51 | 84.1 |
| 21 | ![]() New York, NY | Master's Degree | $88,978 | $30,530 | 226 | 84.1 |
| 22 | Carrollton, GA | Master's Degree | $74,278 | $22,800 | 39 | 83.9 |
| 23 | ![]() Garden City, NY | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $79,784 | - | 53 | 83.6 |
| 24 | ![]() Flagstaff, AZ | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $80,727 | $23,645 | 18 | 83.4 |
| 25 | ![]() Los Angeles, CA | Master's Degree | $85,524 | - | 26 | 83.4 |
| 26 | ![]() Belmont, CA | Master's Degree | $94,588 | - | 18 | 83.3 |
| 27 | Hayward, CA | Master's Degree | $81,760 | - | 33 | 83.1 |
| 28 | ![]() Bronx, NY | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $102,329 | - | 13 | 82.8 |
| 29 | ![]() River Forest, IL | Master's Degree | $67,237 | $16,300 | 34 | 82.7 |
| 30 | ![]() Riverdale, NY | Bachelor's Degree | $83,932 | $26,246 | 26 | 82.7 |
| 31 | ![]() Brooklyn, NY | Bachelor's Degree | $66,377 | $5,500 | 39 | 82.5 |
| 32 | ![]() San Diego, CA | Master's Degree | $84,034 | - | - | 82.3 |
| 33 | ![]() Chicago, IL | Master's Degree | $65,769 | $13,262 | 56 | 82.3 |
| 34 | ![]() New York, NY | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $82,785 | - | - | 82.1 |
| 35 | ![]() San Diego, CA | Non-Credential Program (Preparatory Coursework/Teacher Certification) | $82,744 | - | - | 82 |
| 36 | Cortland, NY | Bachelor's Degree | $74,079 | - | 86 | 81.6 |
| 37 | ![]() Glassboro, NJ | Master's Degree | $72,243 | $24,176 | 39 | 81.3 |
| 38 | Queens, NY | Master's Degree | $84,195 | $31,800 | 106 | 81.2 |
| 39 | Nashville, TN | Doctoral Degree | $98,012 | - | 6 | 81.1 |
| 40 | ![]() Honolulu, HI | Post-baccalaureate Certificate | $67,076 | $14,707 | - | 81 |
| 41 | ![]() Baltimore, MD | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $96,711 | - | 6 | 81 |
| 42 | New York, NY | Master's Degree | $91,867 | $37,830 | 127 | 81 |
| 43 | ![]() Seaside, CA | Non-Credential Program (Preparatory Coursework/Teacher Certification) | $80,481 | - | - | 81 |
| 44 | ![]() River Forest, IL | Master's Degree | $76,142 | - | 34 | 80.8 |
| 45 | New Brunswick, NJ | Master's Degree | $66,728 | $20,500 | 80 | 80.7 |
| 46 | ![]() Rockville Centre, NY | Master's Degree | $73,479 | $26,300 | 60 | 80.7 |
| 47 | ![]() Sparkill, NY | Master's Degree | $76,928 | - | 31 | 80.7 |
| 48 | ![]() Thousand Oaks, CA | Non-Credential Program (Preparatory Coursework/Teacher Certification) | $79,956 | - | - | 80.6 |
| 49 | Purchase, NY | Master's Degree | $79,921 | $29,882 | 84 | 80.6 |
| 50 | ![]() Miami Gardens, FL | Master's Degree | $82,237 | - | 16 | 80.4 |
Hidden Gems for Special Education
Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Special Education - the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.
| # | School | Median earnings | Admit rate | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Staten Island, NY Strong Special Education outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names | $86,157 | 92% | 93.5 |
| 2 | ![]() Thousand Oaks, CA Strong Special Education outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus | $81,041 | 76% | 90.9 |
| 3 | ![]() Vallejo, CA Strong Special Education outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names | $84,787 | - | 89.9 |
| 4 | ![]() Carson, CA Strong Special Education outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names | $95,089 | 93% | 86.9 |
| 5 | ![]() Riverdale, NY Strong Special Education outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus | $87,967 | 79% | 84.9 |
| 6 | ![]() Belmont, CA Strong Special Education outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus | $94,588 | - | 83.3 |
| 7 | Hayward, CA Strong Special Education outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names | $81,760 | 97% | 83.1 |
| 8 | ![]() River Forest, IL Strong Special Education outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus | $67,237 | 93% | 82.7 |
| 9 | ![]() Brooklyn, NY Strong Special Education outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus | $66,377 | 86% | 82.5 |
| 10 | ![]() Chicago, IL Strong Special Education outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus | $65,769 | 75% | 82.3 |
| 11 | ![]() New York, NY Strong Special Education outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus | $82,785 | - | 82.1 |
| 12 | ![]() San Diego, CA Strong Special Education outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus | $82,744 | - | 82 |
Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.
How we ranked this
Programs are scored 0-100 within the Special Education field (CIP 13.10) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Special Education programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded - never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.
Frequently asked questions
Which college has the best Special Education program?+
By our outcome score, California State University-Los Angeles (California) ranks #1 for Special Education, with median graduate earnings of $104,208.
How are these Special Education programs ranked?+
Each program gets a 0-100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.
Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+
The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.
Can I filter Special Education programs by state or degree level?+
Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).
Keep exploring
Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “-” and never estimated. GetInto.College does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.































