Ranked #8 in popularity, special education is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
College Factual reviewed 7 schools in Michigan to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of special education. Combined, these schools handed out 273 master's degrees in special education to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Special Education School for Your Master's Degree
Your choice of special education for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to special education students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - The number of special education students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt special education students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized special education related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for special education students working on their master's degree.
The special ed school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools in Michigan.
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Eastern Michigan University is a great choice for students interested in a master's degree in special education. Eastern Michigan is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Ypsilanti.
Master's graduates who receive their degree from the special ed program make about $57,174 in the first couple years of their career.
Western Michigan University is a good option for students interested in a master's degree in special education. Located in the city of Kalamazoo, WMU is a public university with a large student population.
Master's graduates who receive their degree from the special ed program make an average of $56,065 in their early career salary.
Michigan State University is a great decision for individuals pursuing a master's degree in special education. Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a very large student population.
Students who graduate with their master's from the special ed program report average early career income of $57,308.
Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in special education has to look into Grand Valley State University. Located in the fringe town of Allendale, GVSU is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Students who graduate with their master's from the special ed program state that they receive average early career income of $57,176.
Oakland is a large public university located in the large suburb of Rochester Hills.
Special Education master's degree recipients from Oakland University get an earnings boost of approximately $3,498 over the average income of special education graduates.
Located in the rural area of Spring Arbor, Spring Arbor is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Master's recipients from the special education degree program at Spring Arbor University earn $2,225 more than the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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).
Your choice of special education for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
