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.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 14 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools in Ohio ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 342 master's degrees in special education to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Special Education School for Your Master's Degree
The special ed master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality special ed program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
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
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on special education students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - How many other special education students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
Student Debt - How easy is it for special education to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized special education related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for special education students working on their master's degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools in Ohio ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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Any student who is interested in a master's degree in special education has to check out Kent State University at Kent. Located in the suburb of Kent, Kent State 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 wages of $48,430.
University of Cincinnati - Main Campus is a good choice for students interested in a master's degree in special education. Located in the city of Cincinnati, UC is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Those special education students who get their master's degree from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus receive $5,087 more than the average special ed grad.
Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in special education has to check out Miami University - Oxford. Located in the town of Oxford, Miami University - Oxford is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Students who graduate with their master's from the special ed program report average early career earnings of $51,246.
It is hard to beat Ashland University if you want to pursue a master's degree in special education. Located in the fringe town of Ashland, Ashland is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Those special education students who get their master's degree from Ashland University receive $5,388 more than the average special ed student.
Located in the large suburb of Berea, Baldwin Wallace College is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Special Education master's degree recipients from Baldwin Wallace University get an earnings boost of approximately $2,998 over the average income of special education majors.
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).
The special ed master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality special ed program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
