2023 Best Special Education Schools in the Southeast Region
Finding the Best Special Education School for You
Special Education is the #29 most popular major in the country with 36,792 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Special Education Schools in the Southeast Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 164 schools in the Southeast Region to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Special Education Schools in the Southeast Region
Check out the special ed programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.
Top 15% Best Special Education Schools
Our 2023 rankings named University of Virginia - Main Campus the best school in the Southeast Region for special education students. Located in the small suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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Out of the 164 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Vanderbilt University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Nashville.
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Out of the 164 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Augusta University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Augusta University is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Augusta.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend George Mason University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Special Education Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the large suburb of Fairfax, GMU is a public school with a very large student population.
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Out of the 164 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, East Carolina University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the small city of Greenville, ECU is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Special Ed majors at ECU take out an average of $26,980 in student loans while working on their egree.
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With a ranking of #6, University of Georgia did quite well on this year’s best schools for special education students. Located in the city of Athens, UGA is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average amount in student loans that special ed majors at UGA take out is $25,000.
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Appalachian State University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Special Education Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the distant town of Boone, Appalachian State is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average amount in student loans that special ed majors at Appalachian State take out is $21,500.
Full Special Education at Appalachian State University Report
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Florida State University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Special Education Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Tallahassee, Florida State is a public school with a very large student population.
While working on their degree, special ed majors at Florida State accumulate an average of around $20,584 in student debt.
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University of Florida landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best special education programs. UF is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Gainesville.
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William & Mary ranked #10 on this year’s Best Special Education Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the suburb of Williamsburg, William & Mary is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
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Georgia Gwinnett College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for special education students. It came in at #11 on the list. Georgia Gwinnett College is a large public school located in the large suburb of Lawrenceville.
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Clemson University ranked #12 on this year’s Best Special Education Schools in the Southeast Region list. Clemson is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Clemson.
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Broward College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for special education students. It came in at #13 on the list. BC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Fort Lauderdale.
After completing their degree, special ed graduates from BC carry an average student debtload of $15,237.
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University of West Georgia did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for special education students. It came in at #14 on the list. Located in the fringe town of Carrollton, University of West Georgia is a public college with a large student population.
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Georgia College & State University ranked #15 on this year’s Best Special Education Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the town of Milledgeville, Georgia College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
After completing their degree, special ed graduates from Georgia College carry an average student debtload of $22,866.
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John Brown University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for special education students. It came in at #16 on the list. JBU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the distant town of Siloam Springs.
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Auburn University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for special education students. It came in at #17 on the list. Located in the small city of Auburn, Auburn is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Special Ed majors at Auburn take out an average of $22,250 in student loans while working on their egree. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $512.
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Miami Dade College ranked #18 on this year’s Best Special Education Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the city of Miami, MDC is a public college with a very large student population.
On average, special ed graduates from MDC take out $9,500 in student loans while working on their degree.
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Shenandoah University ranked #19 on this year’s Best Special Education Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the city of Winchester, Shenandoah is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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University of North Carolina at Charlotte ranked #20 on this year’s Best Special Education Schools in the Southeast Region list. UNC Charlotte is a very large public school located in the large city of Charlotte.
The average amount in student loans that special ed majors at UNC Charlotte take out is $26,648.
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James Madison University landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best special education programs. JMU is a very large public school located in the city of Harrisonburg.
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Florida Gulf Coast University came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Special Education Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. FGCU is a large public school located in the suburb of Fort Myers.
The average amount in student loans that special ed majors at FGCU take out is $26,000.
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Florida International University landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best special education programs. Located in the suburb of Miami, FIU is a public school with a very large student population.
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With a ranking of #24, Bellarmine University did quite well on this year’s best schools for special education students. Bellarmine U is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Louisville.
While working on their degree, special ed majors at Bellarmine U accumulate an average of around $26,737 in student debt.
Request InformationHonorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Special Education Schools in the Southeast Region award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | Marymount University | Arlington, VA |
| 26 | University of North Carolina at Greensboro | Greensboro, NC |
| 27 | North Carolina State University | Raleigh, NC |
| 28 | Georgetown College | Georgetown, KY |
| 29 | University of North Carolina at Wilmington | Wilmington, NC |
| 30 | University of North Florida | Jacksonville, FL |
| 31 | The University of West Florida | Pensacola, FL |
| 32 | Tennessee Technological University | Cookeville, TN |
Best Special Education Colleges by State
Explore the best special education colleges for a specific state in the Southeast region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Georgia | 550 |
| Virginia | 1,238 |
| North Carolina | 477 |
| Florida | 1,103 |
| Tennessee | 354 |
| Kentucky | 608 |
| South Carolina | 266 |
| Louisiana | 103 |
| Arkansas | 351 |
| Alabama | 437 |
| Mississippi | 269 |
| West Virginia | 46 |
More Special Education Rankings in the Southeast Region
Special Education Related Rankings by Major
One of 14 majors within the area of study, special education has other similar majors worth exploring.
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 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- 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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