Special Education at Northern Arizona University

Every special education school has its own distinct culture and strengths. We've pulled together some statistics and other details to help you see how the special ed program at Northern Arizona University stacks up to those at other schools.

NAU is located in Flagstaff, Arizona and has a total student population of 29,566. Of the 526 students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Northern Arizona University in 2021, 98 of them were special education majors.

Want to know more about the career opportunities in this field? Check out the Careers in Special Education section at the bottom of this page.

NAU Special Education Degrees Available

• Bachelor’s Degree in Special Ed
• Master’s Degree in Special Ed

Online Classes Are Available at NAU

Online courses are a good option for students who need a more flexible schedule that allows them to pursue an education when and where they want. Whether you're going to school part-time or full-time, you may find distance education the right choice for you.

For those who are interested in distance learning, NAU does offer online courses in special ed for the following degree levels:

NAU Special Education Rankings

The following rankings from College Factual show how the special ed progam at NAU compares to programs at other colleges and universities.

Note: While rankings may be a good starting point when you're researching a school, they don't necessarily highlight all of a school's strengths. Don't forget to check out the other details that are available for a school to see if it has what you're looking for in a program.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The special ed major at NAU is not ranked on College Factual’s Best Colleges and Universities for Special Education. This could be for a number of reasons, such as not having enough data on the major or school to make an accurate assessment of its quality.

Ranking Type	Rank
Most Popular Online Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools	16
Most Popular Special Education Schools	24
Most Popular Online Special Education Schools	26
Most Popular Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools	30
	59
Best Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools	61
Best Value Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools	78
Most Focused Special Education Schools	261
Best Special Education Schools	309
Most Focused Special Education Master’s Degree Schools	313
Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools	344

In 2021, 57 students received their master’s degree in special ed from NAU. This makes it the #80 most popular school for special ed master’s degree candidates in the country.

How Much Do Special Ed Graduates from NAU Make?

The median salary of special ed students who receive their bachelor's degree at NAU is $39,492. This is great news for graduates of the program, since this figure is 2% higher than the national average of $38,748 for all special ed bachelor's degree recipients.

Special Ed Student Demographics at NAU

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the special ed majors at Northern Arizona University.

NAU Special Education Bachelor’s Program

Of the 98 special ed students who graduated with a bachelor's degree in 2020-2021 from NAU, about 8% were men and 92% were women.

About 61% of those who receive a bachelor's degree in special ed at NAU are white. This is below average for this degree on the nationwide level. Prospective students may be interested in knowing that this school graduates 10% more racial-ethnic minorities in its special ed bachelor's program than the national average.*

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Northern Arizona University with a bachelor's in special ed.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	0
Black or African American	2
Hispanic or Latino	26
White	60
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	10

NAU Special Education Master’s Program

Of the 57 students who graduated with a master’s in special ed from NAU in 2021, 14% were men and 86% were women. Nationwide, master's degree programs only see 13% men graduate in special ed each year. NAU does a better job at serving the male population as it supports 1% more men than average.

In the special ed master's program at this school, racial-ethnic minorities make up 51% of degree recipients. That is 23% better than the national average.*

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Northern Arizona University with a master's in special ed.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	2
Black or African American	3
Hispanic or Latino	22
White	27
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	3

NAU also has a doctoral program available in special ed. In 2021, 0 student graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Concentrations Within Special Education

If you plan to be a special ed major, you may want to focus your studies on one of the following concentrations. The completion numbers here include all graduates who receive any type of degree in this field from Northern Arizona University. Some of these focus areas may not be available for your degree level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
General Special Education	150
Education/Teaching of Individuals Who are Developmentally Delayed	23
Education/Teaching of Individuals in Early Childhood Special Education Programs	5
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Autism	3

Related Majors

• International Education
• Curriculum & Instruction
• Teaching English or French
• Multilingual Education
• Student Counseling

Careers That Special Ed Grads May Go Into

A degree in special ed can lead to the following careers. Since job numbers and average salaries can vary by geographic location, we have only included the numbers for AZ, the home state for Northern Arizona University.

Occupation	Jobs in AZ	Average Salary in AZ
Interpreters and Translators	2,940	$46,100
Kindergarten or Elementary School Special Education Teachers	2,850	$44,590
Special Education Professors	2,390	$50,190
Middle School Special Education Teachers	1,560	$44,490
Special Education Teachers	340	$48,850

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• Image Credit: By Teksaz227 under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.