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Best Value Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region

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2023 Best Value Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

19 Colleges
$23,792 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$49,862 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Special Education Graduate Certificate 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.

With all the teaching programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

The Best Value Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking is one of many tools that Teaching Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 19 schools in the Far Western US Region to see which ones offered the best value graduate certificate programs for special ed students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region

Check out the special ed graduate certificate programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools

#1

Whitworth University

Spokane, WA

Our 2023 rankings named Whitworth University the best value school in the Far Western US Region for special education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large suburb of Spokane, Whitworth is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Whitworth are $12,456 per year.

Read More…

#2

National University

La Jolla, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend National University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region list. Located in the large city of La Jolla, National University is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at National University are $15,480 per year.

Read More…

#3

Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Mount Saint Mary’s University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, MSMU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at MSMU are $13,099 per year.

Read full report on Special Education at Mount Saint Mary’s University

The excellent graduate certificate programs at California State University - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value special education schools in the Far Western US Region . Located in the city of Los Angeles, Cal State LA is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal State LA are $17,723 per year.

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means California State University - Long Beach is a great value for special education students working on their graduate certificate. CSULB is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Long Beach.

CSULB graduate students pay an average of $17,784 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Special Education at California State University - Long Beach

#6

George Fox University

Newberg, OR

George Fox University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for special education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. GFU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the fringe town of Newberg.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at GFU are $14,293 per year.

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California State University - Northridge ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools in the Far Western US Region list. Located in the city of Northridge, CSUN is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at CSUN are $17,981 a year.

Read full report on Special Education at California State University - Northridge

#8

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

With a ranking of #8, San Francisco State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for special education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at SFSU are $18,242 per year.

Read More…

With a ranking of #9, Western Oregon University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for special education students working on their graduate certificate. Western Oregon State College is a small public school located in the fringe town of Monmouth.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Western Oregon State College are $18,369 per year.

Full Special Education at Western Oregon University Report

With a ranking of #10, University of Alaska Fairbanks did quite well on this year’s best value schools for special education students working on their graduate certificate. UAF is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Fairbanks.

UAF graduate students pay an average of $25,248 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Special Education at University of Alaska Fairbanks

Best Special Education Colleges by State

Explore the best special education schools for a specific state in the Far Western US region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 238
Oregon 234
California 2,861
Nevada 215
Hawaii 49
Alaska 52

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

Majors Similar to Special Ed

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 19 schools only.

  • 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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