Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many education of the deaf graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	123
Undergraduate Certificate	95
Bachelor’s Degree	78
Associate Degree	18
Graduate Certificate	17
Basic Certificate	4
Doctor’s Degree	2

What Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, deaf education majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Deaf Education Majors

Deaf Education 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 Deaf Education Majors

When studying deaf education, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• 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.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Abilities for Deaf Education Majors

Deaf Education majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• 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 Major?

People with a deaf education degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Adapted Physical Education Specialists	9.9%	$56,680
Interpreters and Translators	17.7%	$49,930
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 ?

The major attracts more women than men. About 94% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of deaf education majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1
Black or African American	5
Hispanic or Latino	3
White	61
International Students	1
Other Races/Ethnicities	7

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Deaf Education. About 1.3% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Deaf Education majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $61,610 to $64,390 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

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

Some careers associated with deaf education require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. 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 deaf education careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	0.1%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	0.1%
Some College Courses	0.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	1.8%
Bachelor’s Degree	52.9%
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.	13.8%
Master’s Degree	27.0%
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.	2.2%
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.	1.5%
Doctoral Degree	1.0%

Online Programs

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)	3	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	4	0
Bachelor’s Degree	13	6
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	21	2
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	3	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Worth It?

The median salary for a deaf education grad is $62,500 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 57% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $452,000 after 20 years!

Majors Related to

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to deaf education.

Major	Number of Grads
General Special Education	23,838
Education/Teaching of Individuals in Early Childhood Special Education Programs	3,451
Elementary Special Education	1,665
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Multiple Disabilities	1,514
Other Special Education & Teaching	1,296
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Autism	1,265
Education/Teaching of Individuals in Secondary Special Education Programs	562
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Specific Learning Disabilities	525
Education/Teaching of the Gifted & Talented	470
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Speech or Language Impairments	273
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Vision Impairments Including Blindness	204
Education/Teaching of Individuals Who are Developmentally Delayed	146
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Emotional Disturbances	127
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities	123
Education/Teaching of Individuals in Junior High/Middle School Special Education Programs	105
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Orthopedic & Other Physical Health Impairments	40
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injuries	32

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.