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 28 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools in New York ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 3,155 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 complete 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 New York.
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It's difficult to beat Hunter College if you wish to pursue a master's degree in special education. Located in the large city of New York, Hunter is a public college with a very large student population.
Those special education students who get their master's degree from Hunter College make $13,559 more than the typical special ed student.
Brooklyn College is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in special education. Brooklyn College is a fairly large public college located in the large city of Brooklyn.
Special Education master's degree recipients from Brooklyn College get an earnings boost of around $14,055 above the average earnings of special education majors.
Syracuse University is a good decision for individuals interested in a master's degree in special education. Syracuse is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Syracuse.
Soon after graduating, special ed master's recipients usually earn about $60,047 in the first five years of their career.
The City College of New York is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in special education. Located in the city of New York, CCNY is a public college with a large student population.
Those special education students who get their master's degree from The City College of New York earn $13,213 more than the typical special ed graduate.
Located in the suburb of Hempstead, Hofstra is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the special education degree program at Hofstra University get $12,641 more than the typical graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
STJ is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Queens.
Those special education students who get their master's degree from St John's University - New York receive $11,818 more than the average special ed grad.
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:
