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Special Education

Types of Degrees Special Education Majors Are Earning

People majoring in Special Education can earn degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	177
Associate’s Degree	1,437
Bachelor’s Degree	8,183
Master’s Degree	23,928
Doctor’s Degree	249

What Special Education Majors Need to Know

Coursework for Special Education develop a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Special Education graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in Special Education emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Education and Training — Importance 4.5 / 5; level 5.5 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 5.1 / 7.
• Psychology — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 3.4 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Mathematics — Importance 3.2 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set emphasized by a Special Education program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Speaking — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Instructing — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Learning Strategies — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.

Abilities

The cognitive and physical abilities most relevant to Special Education careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Expression — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Speech Clarity — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Special Education graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Getting Information	4.3 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	4.2 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.1 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.1 / 7
Training and Teaching Others	4.1 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.0 / 7
Working with Computers	3.9 / 7
Coaching and Developing Others	3.8 / 7
Thinking Creatively	3.8 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	3.8 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Special Education professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	✓
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Email software	Electronic mail software	—
Screen magnification software	Device drivers or system software	—
Screen reader software	Device drivers or system software	—
Voice activated software	Voice recognition software	—
Padlet	Computer based training software	—
Blackboard software	Data base user interface and query software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Special Education graduates include:

• Sign Language Teacher
• Lip Reading Teacher
• Learning Support Teacher
• Braille Teacher
• Physically Impaired Teacher
• Blind Teacher
• Learning Disabled Teacher
• Special Needs Teacher
• Reading Specialist
• Learning Specialist
• Hearing Impaired Teacher
• Resource Specialist
• Teacher
• Deaf Teacher
• Exceptional Student Education Teacher (ESE Teacher)

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Special Education graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Bachelor’s degree	33.8%
Doctoral degree	30.0%
Master’s degree	21.2%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	12.2%
First professional degree	1.0%
High school diploma or equivalent	0.7%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	0.6%
Some college courses	0.4%
Post-master’s certificate	0.1%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Special Education?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 87% of Special Education degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	29,581	87.0%
Men	4,407	13.0%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Special Education graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	21,932	64.5%
Asian	1,035	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	5,490	16.2%
Black or African American	2,883	8.5%
American Indian / Alaska Native	143	0.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	56	0.2%
Two or More Races	862	2.5%
Race Unknown	1,232	3.6%
International Students	355	1.0%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Special Education Graduates Earn?

The U.S. Department of Education tracks median earnings of Special Education graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. These numbers tend to grow steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$54,981
4 years	$54,220
5 years	$59,983

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $59,983 — roughly 9% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Special Education Programs

Distance learning are documented by IPEDS for Special Education. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Associate’s	6	8
Bachelor’s	54	67
Master’s	271	151
Doctoral (Research)	4	5

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Special Education Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, Special Education graduates earn a median of $54,220 four years after completion — roughly 43% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	CIP Code
Education	13
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education	13.02
Curriculum and Instruction	13.03
Education, General	13.01
Education, Other	13.99
EDUCATION	13.00
Educational Administration and Supervision	13.04
Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research	13.06
Educational/Instructional Media Design	13.05
International and Comparative Education	13.07
Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education	13.09
Student Counseling and Personnel Services	13.11

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.