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.
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 | California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA | Master's Degree | $104,208 | $20,500 | 63 | 94.5 |
| 2 | California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA | Master's Degree | $91,444 | $17,157 | 29 | 93.6 |
| 3 | College of Staten Island CUNY Staten Island, NY | Master's Degree | $86,157 | $18,524 | 41 | 93.5 |
| 4 | Utah State University Logan, UT | Bachelor's Degree | $74,535 | $11,250 | 80 | 91.7 |
| 5 | CUNY Queens College Queens, NY | Master's Degree | $85,359 | $21,433 | 60 | 91.5 |
| 6 | California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA | Master's Degree | $81,041 | $14,600 | 23 | 90.9 |
| 7 | CUNY City College New York, NY | Master's Degree | $94,601 | $23,914 | 55 | 90.5 |
| 8 | CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY | Master's Degree | $90,918 | $24,807 | 130 | 90.3 |
| 9 | Touro University California Vallejo, CA | Master's Degree | $84,787 | $16,063 | 14 | 89.9 |
| 10 | CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY | Master's Degree | $84,758 | $25,000 | 147 | 88.6 |
| 11 | Touro University New York, NY | Master's Degree | $80,111 | $24,332 | 705 | 87.9 |
| 12 | California State University-Dominguez Hills Carson, CA | Master's Degree | $95,089 | — | 41 | 86.9 |
| 13 | California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA | Master's Degree | $95,677 | $25,320 | — | 85.7 |
| 14 | San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA | Master's Degree | $76,580 | $24,072 | 64 | 85.4 |
| 15 | California State University-San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA | Master's Degree | $87,254 | — | 35 | 85.3 |
| 16 | University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT | Master's Degree | $73,872 | $20,689 | 39 | 85.3 |
| 17 | Manhattan College Riverdale, NY | Master's Degree | $87,967 | $25,131 | 22 | 84.9 |
| 18 | California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA | Master's Degree | $85,826 | — | 35 | 84.8 |
| 19 | George Mason University Fairfax, VA | Master's Degree | $72,192 | $23,695 | 267 | 84.5 |
| 20 | California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA | Master's Degree | $80,228 | — | 51 | 84.1 |
| 21 | CUNY Hunter College New York, NY | Master's Degree | $88,978 | $30,530 | 226 | 84.1 |
| 22 | University of West Georgia Carrollton, GA | Master's Degree | $74,278 | $22,800 | 39 | 83.9 |
| 23 | Adelphi University Garden City, NY | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $79,784 | — | 53 | 83.6 |
| 24 | Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $80,727 | $23,645 | 18 | 83.4 |
| 25 | Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA | Master's Degree | $85,524 | — | 26 | 83.4 |
| 26 | Notre Dame de Namur University Belmont, CA | Master's Degree | $94,588 | — | 18 | 83.3 |
| 27 | California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA | Master's Degree | $81,760 | — | 33 | 83.1 |
| 28 | CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $102,329 | — | 13 | 82.8 |
| 29 | Concordia University-Chicago River Forest, IL | Master's Degree | $67,237 | $16,300 | 34 | 82.7 |
| 30 | Manhattan College Riverdale, NY | Bachelor's Degree | $83,932 | $26,246 | 26 | 82.7 |
| 31 | CUNY Medgar Evers College Brooklyn, NY | Bachelor's Degree | $66,377 | $5,500 | 39 | 82.5 |
| 32 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA | Master's Degree | $84,034 | — | — | 82.3 |
| 33 | Northeastern Illinois University Chicago, IL | Master's Degree | $65,769 | $13,262 | 56 | 82.3 |
| 34 | Relay Graduate School of Education New York, NY | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $82,785 | — | — | 82.1 |
| 35 | Alliant International University-San Diego San Diego, CA | Non-Credential Program (Preparatory Coursework/Teacher Certification) | $82,744 | — | — | 82 |
| 36 | State University of New York at Cortland Cortland, NY | Bachelor's Degree | $74,079 | — | 86 | 81.6 |
| 37 | Rowan University Glassboro, NJ | Master's Degree | $72,243 | $24,176 | 39 | 81.3 |
| 38 | St. John's University-New York Queens, NY | Master's Degree | $84,195 | $31,800 | 106 | 81.2 |
| 39 | Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN | Doctoral Degree | $98,012 | — | 6 | 81.1 |
| 40 | University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI | Post-baccalaureate Certificate | $67,076 | $14,707 | — | 81 |
| 41 | Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD | Graduate/Professional Certificate | $96,711 | — | 6 | 81 |
| 42 | Pace University New York, NY | Master's Degree | $91,867 | $37,830 | 127 | 81 |
| 43 | California State University-Monterey Bay Seaside, CA | Non-Credential Program (Preparatory Coursework/Teacher Certification) | $80,481 | — | — | 81 |
| 44 | Dominican University River Forest, IL | Master's Degree | $76,142 | — | 34 | 80.8 |
| 45 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ | Master's Degree | $66,728 | $20,500 | 80 | 80.7 |
| 46 | Molloy College Rockville Centre, NY | Master's Degree | $73,479 | $26,300 | 60 | 80.7 |
| 47 | St. Thomas Aquinas College Sparkill, NY | Master's Degree | $76,928 | — | 31 | 80.7 |
| 48 | California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA | Non-Credential Program (Preparatory Coursework/Teacher Certification) | $79,956 | — | — | 80.6 |
| 49 | Manhattanville College Purchase, NY | Master's Degree | $79,921 | $29,882 | 84 | 80.6 |
| 50 | Florida Memorial University Miami Gardens, FL | Master's Degree | $82,237 | — | 16 | 80.4 |
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. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.