Special Education at Western Illinois University

What traits are you looking for in a special ed school? To help you decide if Western Illinois University is right for you, we've gathered the following information about the school's special ed program.

WIU is located in Macomb, Illinois and approximately 7,490 students attend the school each year. In the 2020-2021 academic year, 10 students received a bachelor's degree in special ed from WIU.

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.

WIU Special Education Degrees Available

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

Online Classes Are Available at WIU

Don't have the time or the flexibility in your schedule to take traditional classes? Online courses may be the perfect solution for you. They allow independent learners to study when and where they want to while offering the rigor of in-person classes.

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

• Master’s Degree

WIU Special Education Rankings

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

Note: Although rankings can help you see some information about a school, it's not a good idea to depend on them alone. Be sure to check out other things about the school before making your decision to attend.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The special ed major at WIU 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
Best Value Special Education Master’s Degree Schools	92
Best Special Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools	181
Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools	222
	303
Best Special Education Schools	315
Most Popular Special Education Master’s Degree Schools	363
Most Popular Special Education Schools	399
Most Focused Special Education Schools	503

In 2021, 9 students received their master’s degree in special ed from WIU. This makes it the #364 most popular school for special ed master’s degree candidates in the country.

How Much Do Special Ed Graduates from WIU Make?

The median salary of special ed students who receive their bachelor's degree at WIU is $37,193. This is less than $38,748, which is the national average of all special ed majors in the nation who earn bachelor's degrees.

Special Ed Student Demographics at WIU

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

WIU Special Education Bachelor’s Program

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 10 students earned a bachelor's degree in special ed from WIU. About 100% of these graduates were women and the other 0% were men.

About 70% of those who receive a bachelor's degree in special ed at WIU are white. This is typical for this degree on the nationwide level. Prospective students may be interested in knowing that this school graduates 2% 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 Western Illinois University with a bachelor's in special ed.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	0
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	2
White	7
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

WIU Special Education Master’s Program

Of the 9 special ed students who graduated with a master's degree in 2020-2021 from WIU, about 0% were men and 100% were women.

Of the students who received a special ed master's degree from WIU, 100% were white. This is above average for this degree on the natiowide level.

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	0
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	0
White	9
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

WIU 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

Special Education majors may want to concentrate their studies in one of these areas. The completion numbers here include all graduates who receive any type of degree in this field from Western Illinois University. Some of these focus areas may not be available for your degree level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
General Special Education	19

Related Majors

• Teaching English or French
• General Education
• Instructional Media Design
• Student Counseling
• Teacher Education Subject Specific

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 IL, the home state for Western Illinois University.

Occupation	Jobs in IL	Average Salary in IL
Kindergarten or Elementary School Special Education Teachers	9,670	$63,740
Special Education Professors	8,440	$69,840
Middle School Special Education Teachers	3,420	$63,330
Interpreters and Translators	1,970	$46,320
Special Education Preschool Teachers	960	$57,280

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 IlliniGradResearch under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.