General Special Education

Types of Degrees General Special Education Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general special education graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	15,631
Bachelor’s Degree	6,824
Graduate Certificate	1,464
Basic Certificate	298
Doctor’s Degree	176
Associate Degree	55
Undergraduate Certificate	49

What General Special Education Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to teaching students with disabilities were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Teaching Students with Disabilities Majors

Teaching Students With Disabilities majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.

Skills for Teaching Students with Disabilities Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to teaching students with disabilities:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Teaching Students with Disabilities Majors

As a teaching students with disabilities major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a General Special Education Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with teaching students with disabilities:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Adapted Physical Education Specialists	9.9%	$56,680
Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School	7.4%	$59,390
Special Education Teachers, Middle School	7.2%	$60,250
Special Education Teachers, Preschool	11.3%	$55,840
Special Education Teachers, Secondary School	7.4%	$60,600

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in General Special Education?

This major is dominated by women with about 89% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of teaching students with disabilities majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	85
Black or African American	272
Hispanic or Latino	777
White	5,277
International Students	30
Other Races/Ethnicities	383

Geographic Diversity

Teaching Students with Disabilities appeals to people across the globe. About 0.4% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do General Special Education Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $62,500 to $64,390 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to teaching students with disabilities. This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to General Special Education

Some degrees associated with teaching students with disabilities may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for teaching students with disabilities careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Some College Courses	0.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	0.6%
Bachelor’s Degree	53.0%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	15.5%
Master’s Degree	27.2%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.4%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	1.7%
Doctoral Degree	1.2%

Online General Special Education Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 791 schools offered some type of general special education program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	19	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	36	2
Bachelor’s Degree	139	39
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	544	133
Post-Master’s	71	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	66	3
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	1	1

Is a Degree in General Special Education Worth It?

The median salary for a teaching students with disabilities grad is $63,110 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 58% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $464,200 after 20 years!

Majors Related to General Special Education

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to teaching students with disabilities.

Major	Number of Grads
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

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
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By woodleywonderworks under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.