2023 Best Value Special Education Associate Degree Schools
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Special Education Associate Degree School for You
In 2020-2021, 36,792 people earned a degree or certificate in special education, making the major the #29 most popular in the United States.
When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Special Education Associate Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 10 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best value associate degree programs for special ed students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.
For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Top 10 Best Special Education Associate Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Itawamba Community College the best value school in the United States for special education students working on their associate degree. ICC is a small public school located in the remote town of Fulton.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at ICC are $5,360 a year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Miami Dade College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Special Education Associate Degree Schools list. MDC is a very large public school located in the large city of Miami.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at MDC are $9,661 a year.
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The excellent associate degree programs at Lehigh Carbon Community College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value special education schools in the United States. LCCC is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Schnecksville.
LCCC undergraduate students pay an average of $12,060 in tuition and fees each year.
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The excellent associate degree programs at Stark State College helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value special education schools in the United States. Located in the large suburb of North Canton, Stark State College is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Stark State College undergraduate students pay an average of $7,406 in tuition and fees each year.
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The excellent associate degree programs at University of Cincinnati - Clermont College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value special education schools in the United States. Located in the large suburb of Batavia, UC Clermont College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UC Clermont College are $13,198 per year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, UC Clermont College also did well on our Best Special Education Associate Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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College of Southern Nevada ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Special Education Associate Degree Schools list. CSN is a very large public school located in the city of Las Vegas.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at CSN are $11,534 a year. On average, special ed graduates from CSN take out $14,821 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
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With a ranking of #7, Florida State College at Jacksonville did quite well on this year’s best value schools for special education students working on their associate degree. Located in the city of Jacksonville, FSCJ is a public school with a very large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at FSCJ are $9,631 per year.
In addition to its great value ranking, FSCJ is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Special Education Associate Degree Schools list.
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With a ranking of #8, Rowan College of South Jersey Gloucester Campus did quite well on this year’s best value schools for special education students working on their associate degree. Located in the suburb of Sewell, RCSJ is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
RCSJ undergraduate students pay an average of $5,550 in tuition and fees each year.
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With a ranking of #9, Gateway Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for special education students working on their associate degree. Gateway Community College is a medium-sized public school located in the medium-sized city of New Haven.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Gateway Community College are $13,448 per year.
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Northern Vermont University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Special Education Associate Degree Schools list. Northern Vermont University is a small public school located in the rural area of Johnson.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Northern Vermont University are $26,892 per year.
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View the Best Value Special Education Associate Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
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| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
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Special Education Related Majors for Special Ed
Special Education is one of 14 different types of programs to choose from.
Most Popular Majors Related 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 10 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.