Special Education at Virginia Commonwealth 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 Virginia Commonwealth University stacks up to those at other schools.

VCU is located in Richmond, Virginia and approximately 29,070 students attend the school each year.

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.

VCU Special Education Degrees Available

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

Online Classes Are Available at VCU

If you are a working student or have a busy schedule, you may want to consider taking online classes. While these classes used to be mostly populated by returning adults, more and more traditional students are turning to this option.

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

• Master’s Degree

VCU Special Education Rankings

Note: Rankings don't always give a complete picture of a school's strengths and weaknesses, so it's a good idea to extend your research and also look at other factors when trying to decide if the school is right for you.

There were 3 students who received their doctoral degrees in special ed, making the school the #23 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Special Ed Student Demographics at VCU

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

VCU Special Education Master’s Program

The special ed program at VCU awarded 33 master's degrees in 2020-2021. About 21% of these degrees went to men with the other 79% going to women. Nationwide, master's degree programs only see 13% men graduate in special ed each year. VCU does a better job at serving the male population as it supports 8% more men than average.

In the special ed master's program at this school, racial-ethnic minorities make up 55% of degree recipients. That is 26% better than the national average.*

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	3
Black or African American	11
Hispanic or Latino	3
White	14
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	2

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 table shows all degrees awarded in this field awarded for all degree levels at Virginia Commonwealth University. A concentration may not be available for your level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
General Special Education	45
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Multiple Disabilities	10

Related Majors

• Curriculum & Instruction
• Student Counseling
• Teacher Education Grade Specific
• Educational Administration
• General Education

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 VA, the home state for Virginia Commonwealth University.

Occupation	Jobs in VA	Average Salary in VA
Kindergarten or Elementary School Special Education Teachers	5,870	$66,790
Special Education Professors	4,110	$61,890
Middle School Special Education Teachers	3,150	$72,960
Special Education Teachers	2,220	$78,340
Interpreters and Translators	2,000	$70,770

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 user:mentes under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.