The 50 colleges that score highest for Special education on public federal data: selectivity, graduate earnings, program size, academic strength and graduate depth. It is a starting point for your research, not a judgment of quality.
50 colleges · each name links to its page, with sources · data snapshot October 2, 2026 · Updated October 2, 2026
How we rank programs · showing the top 50 of 50 core colleges ranked, those with enough graduates and earnings data · All top-programs lists
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| Rank | College | State | What we measured | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanderbilt University | TN | Median earnings $55,188 (field-wide) · 15 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 2 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | IL | Median earnings $60,685 · 32 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 3 | Syracuse University | NY | Median earnings $62,864 · 31 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 4 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | WI | Median earnings $50,302 · 29 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 5 | University of Connecticut | CT | Median earnings $61,066 · 18 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 6 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | PA | Median earnings $53,158 (field-wide) · 16 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 7 | Purdue University-Main Campus | IN | Median earnings $55,308 · 11 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 8 | University of Georgia | GA | Median earnings $51,259 · 34 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 9 | Michigan State University | MI | Median earnings $58,522 · 47 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 10 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | OH | Median earnings $50,194 · 21 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 11 | Clemson University | SC | Median earnings $49,897 (field-wide) · 34 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 12 | University of Central Florida | FL | Median earnings $52,178 (field-wide) · 29 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 13 | Florida State University | FL | Median earnings $57,573 · 17 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 14 | Auburn University | AL | Median earnings $55,544 · 45 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 15 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | MN | Median earnings $58,675 · 16 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 16 | The College of New Jersey | NJ | Median earnings $66,767 · 66 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 17 | University of Missouri-Columbia | MO | Median earnings $51,901 · 21 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 18 | Indiana University-Bloomington | IN | Median earnings $52,008 · 32 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 19 | Northern Illinois University | IL | Median earnings $53,148 · 63 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 20 | Rowan University | NJ | Median earnings $57,739 (field-wide) · 86 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 21 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | TN | Median earnings $50,585 · 14 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 22 | The University of Alabama | AL | Median earnings $50,763 · 33 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 23 | Providence College | RI | Median earnings $54,927 · 39 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 24 | University of Dayton | OH | Median earnings $51,389 · 23 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 25 | Touro University | NY | Median earnings $53,419 (college-wide) · 11 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 26 | Florida International University | FL | Median earnings $51,422 (field-wide) · 40 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 27 | George Mason University | VA | Median earnings $59,979 (field-wide) · 16 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 28 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | Median earnings $56,311 · 60 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 29 | State University of New York at Cortland | NY | Median earnings $74,079 · 88 graduates last year · 6% of the school's degrees | |
| 30 | Pace University | NY | Median earnings $70,378 (college-wide) · 26 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 31 | University of West Florida | FL | Median earnings $47,968 · 44 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 32 | Brigham Young University | UT | Median earnings $39,325 · 30 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 33 | Utah State University | UT | Median earnings $74,535 · 66 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 34 | Seton Hall University | NJ | Median earnings $72,067 · 10 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 35 | West Chester University of Pennsylvania | PA | Median earnings $61,258 (college-wide) · 62 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 36 | St. Joseph's University-New York | NY | Median earnings $55,812 · 184 graduates last year · 20% of the school's degrees | |
| 37 | University of North Florida | FL | Median earnings $59,429 · 19 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 38 | Old Dominion University | VA | Median earnings $56,564 (field-wide) · 28 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 39 | James Madison University | VA | Median earnings $69,954 (college-wide) · 21 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 40 | University of Nevada-Las Vegas | NV | Median earnings $60,958 · 45 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 41 | Ball State University | IN | Median earnings $51,267 · 54 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 42 | University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus | OK | Median earnings $48,659 (field-wide) · 10 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 43 | Daemen University | NY | Median earnings $61,808 (college-wide) · 11 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 44 | University of North Carolina at Charlotte | NC | Median earnings $49,301 · 29 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 45 | University of Hawaii at Manoa | HI | Median earnings $62,087 · 33 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 46 | University of Nebraska at Omaha | NE | Median earnings $55,665 · 69 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 47 | Miami University-Oxford | OH | Median earnings $47,226 · 18 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 48 | Towson University | MD | Median earnings $56,971 · 119 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 49 | Northern Arizona University | AZ | Median earnings $53,619 · 88 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 50 | Marist University | NY | Median earnings $77,819 (college-wide) · 32 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees |
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