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Most Popular Online Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools

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2023 Most Popular Online Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools

100 Colleges
$49,862 Avg Salary
$22,246 Avg Student Debt

With 36,792 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, special education is the #4 most popular major in the United States.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for teaching students. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

The Most Popular Online Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools ranking is one of many tools that Teaching Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 100 schools in the United States to see which online graduate certificate programs were the most popular for teaching students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from schools with online programs.

The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Online Special Education Graduate Certificate Colleges.

#1

Ball State University

Muncie, IN

Our analysis found Ball State University to be the most popular school for special education students who want to pursue an online graduate certificate in the United States. Ball State is a very large public school located in the city of Muncie.

Women make up 92% of the special ed majors at the school.

Full Special Education at Ball State University Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Minnesota State University - Mankato. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Online Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. Minnesota State Mankato is a large public school located in the city of Mankato.

Of the 128 students majoring in special ed at Minnesota State Mankato, 6% are male and 94% are female.

Read full report on Special Education at Minnesota State University - Mankato

#3

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Liberty University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Popular Online Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

About 87% of the students majoring in special ed at the school are women while 13% are male.

Full Special Education at Liberty University Report

#4

University of West Georgia

Carrollton, GA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of West Georgia. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Popular Online Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the town of Carrollton, University of West Georgia is a public college with a large student population.

Women make up 94% of the special ed majors at the school.

Read More…

#5

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Florida. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Online Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. UF is a very large public school located in the city of Gainesville.

Of the 42 students majoring in special ed at UF, 7% are male and 93% are female.

Read full report on Special Education at University of Florida

#6

University of Kansas

Lawrence, KS

University of Kansas landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular online graduate certificate special education programs. Located in the city of Lawrence, KU is a public school with a very large student population.

Women make up 92% of the special ed majors at the school.

Full Special Education at University of Kansas Report

Arkansas State University - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular online places for special education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the small city of Jonesboro, A-State is a public school with a large student population.

About 79% of the students majoring in special ed at the school are women while 21% are male.

Read More…

#6

George Mason University

Fairfax, VA

George Mason University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Fairfax, GMU is a public school with a very large student population.

Of the 71 students majoring in special ed at GMU, 13% are male and 87% are female.

Read full report on Special Education at George Mason University

#9

Granite State College

Concord, NH

Granite State College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular online places for special education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. GSC is a small public school located in the fringe town of Concord.

Women make up 80% of the special ed majors at the school.

Read full report on Special Education at Granite State College

Northwestern State University of Louisiana landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular online graduate certificate special education programs. Located in the remote town of Natchitoches, NSU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 88% of the special ed majors at the school.

Read full report on Special Education at Northwestern State University of Louisiana

#11

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC

East Carolina University ranked #11 on this year’s Most Popular Online Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Greenville, ECU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

About 97% of the students majoring in special ed at the school are women while 3% are male.

Read More…

#12

Viterbo University

La Crosse, WI

Viterbo University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular online graduate certificate special education programs. Viterbo is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of La Crosse.

About 68% of the students majoring in special ed at the school are women while 32% are male.

Full Special Education at Viterbo University Report

#13

Queens College

Queens, NY

Queens College landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular online graduate certificate special education programs. QC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Queens.

Of the 26 students majoring in special ed at QC, 8% are male and 92% are female.

Read More…

#13

University of Maine

Orono, ME

University of Maine ranked #13 on this year’s Most Popular Online Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the small suburb of Orono, UMaine is a public college with a large student population.

Of the 26 students majoring in special ed at UMaine, 4% are male and 96% are female.

Full Special Education at University of Maine Report

#15

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, IL

Olivet Nazarene University came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small suburb of Bourbonnais.

Of the 25 students majoring in special ed at Olivet Nazarene, 28% are male and 72% are female.

Read full report on Special Education at Olivet Nazarene University

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular Online Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools award.

Rank College Location
16 Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ
17 University of West Alabama Livingston, AL
17 University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC
19 Augusta University Augusta, GA
19 The City College of New York New York, NY

View the Most Popular Online Special Education Graduate Certificate Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

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

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 26 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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