2023 Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Special Education Master's Degree School for You
With 36,792 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, special education is the #4 most popular major in the United States.
When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for teaching students. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Teaching Degree Search has developed this Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 510 schools in the United States to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for teaching students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.
View our full ranking methodology.
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2023 Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for special ed majors pursuing a master's degree.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Master's in Special Education
Our 2023 rankings named Bank Street College of Education the best school in the United States for special education students working on their master’s degree. Bank Street College of Education is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
Out of the 510 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Teachers College at Columbia University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the city of New York, Teachers College is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Full Special Education at Teachers College at Columbia University Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Gonzaga University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Spokane, Gonzaga is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
The excellent master’s degree programs at Brandman University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best special education schools in the United States. Brandman is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Irvine.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend The College of New Jersey. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools list. TCNJ is a medium-sized public school located in the suburb of Ewing.
Read full report on Special Education at The College of New Jersey
Fresno Pacific University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Fresno, Fresno Pacific is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Read full report on Special Education at Fresno Pacific University
University of Washington - Seattle Campus landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree special education programs. Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public school with a very large student population.
Full Special Education at University of Washington - Seattle Campus Report
Point Loma Nazarene University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree special education programs. PLNU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Diego.
University of Scranton did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for special education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the city of Scranton, University of Scranton is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Johns Hopkins University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree special education programs. Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
Elizabethtown College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools list. Etown is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Elizabethtown.
Manhattan College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for special education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #12 on the list. Located in the city of Riverdale, Manhattan is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
California State University - Los Angeles ranked #13 on this year’s Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, Cal State LA is a public school with a very large student population.
Read full report on Special Education at California State University - Los Angeles
Seattle University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Seattle, Seattle U is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.
Westminster College Pennsylvania came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the fringe town of New Wilmington, Westminster New Wilmington is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Read full report on Special Education at Westminster College Pennsylvania
Carroll University landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree special education programs. Located in the city of Waukesha, Carroll U is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
With a ranking of #17, Vanderbilt University did quite well on this year’s best schools for special education students working on their master’s degree. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Nashville.
With a ranking of #18, Wisconsin Lutheran College did quite well on this year’s best schools for special education students working on their master’s degree. WLC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Milwaukee.
Read full report on Special Education at Wisconsin Lutheran College
University of St Thomas Minnesota came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Saint Paul, UST MN is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
Full Special Education at University of St Thomas Minnesota Report
Notre Dame de Namur University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for special education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #20 on the list. NDNU is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Belmont.
Full Special Education at Notre Dame de Namur University Report
Loyola Marymount University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for special education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #21 on the list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
Read full report on Special Education at Loyola Marymount University
University of Wisconsin - Madison came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools ranking. UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the city of Madison.
Northwestern College landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree special education programs. Located in the town of Orange City, NWC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Read full report on Special Education at Northwestern College
With a ranking of #24, Winona State University did quite well on this year’s best schools for special education students working on their master’s degree. Winona State is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of Winona.
Saint Joseph’s University landed the #25 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree special education programs. St. Joe's is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.
Rest of the Top 50 Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools
Additional Award Winners
This section shows the remainder of the colleges awarded a Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 510 different United States special education schools we analyzed.
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools award.
Special Education by Region
View the Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Special Education Rankings
Special Education Related Rankings by Major
One of 14 majors within the teaching area of study, special education has other similar majors worth exploring.
Special Ed Focus Areas
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| General Special Education | 24,497 |
| Education/Teaching of Individuals in Early Childhood Special Education Programs | 3,111 |
| Education/Teaching of Individuals with Multiple Disabilities | 1,789 |
| Elementary Special Education | 1,625 |
| Other Special Education & Teaching | 1,227 |
| Education/Teaching of Individuals with Autism | 1,133 |
| Education/Teaching of Individuals in Secondary Special Education Programs | 655 |
| Education/Teaching of Individuals with Specific Learning Disabilities | 540 |
| Education/Teaching of the Gifted & Talented | 504 |
| Education/Teaching of Individuals with Speech or Language Impairments | 415 |
| Education of the Deaf | 363 |
| Education/Teaching of Individuals with Emotional Disturbances | 226 |
| Education/Teaching of Individuals Who are Developmentally Delayed | 222 |
| Education/Teaching of Individuals in Junior High/Middle School Special Education Programs | 181 |
| Education/Teaching of Individuals with Vision Impairments Including Blindness | 134 |
| Education/Teaching of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities | 122 |
| Education/Teaching of Individuals with Orthopedic & Other Physical Health Impairments | 47 |
| Education/Teaching of Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injuries | 1 |
Most Popular Related Majors
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 110,226 |
| Educational Administration | 46,469 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 43,297 |
| General Education | 29,810 |
| Curriculum & Instruction | 19,832 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- 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.
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