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 35 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of special education. Combined, these schools handed out 1,417 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.
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 the Plains States Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in special education needs to look into University of St Thomas Minnesota. Located in the large city of Saint Paul, UST MN is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.
Those special education students who get their master's degree from University of St Thomas Minnesota earn $5,323 more than the typical special ed student.
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in special education. Located in the city of Minneapolis, UMN Twin Cities is a public university with a very large student population.
Soon after graduating, special ed master's recipients generally make around $53,829 in the first five years of their career.
It's hard to beat University of North Dakota if you want to pursue a master's degree in special education. Located in the small city of Grand Forks, UND is a public university with a large student population.
Master's students who receive their degree from the special ed program earn about $53,957 in their early career salary.
Saint Cloud State University is a good decision for students pursuing a master's degree in special education. St. Cloud State University is a fairly large public university located in the city of Saint Cloud.
Special Education master's degree recipients from Saint Cloud State University receive an earnings boost of around $2,503 above the average income of special education graduates.
Located in the city of Mankato, Minnesota State Mankato is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Those special education students who get their master's degree from Minnesota State University - Mankato make $2,875 more than the average special ed graduate.
Located in the small city of Sioux City, Morningside is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Special Education master's degree recipients from Morningside College earn a boost of approximately $2,271 over the typical earnings 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).
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:
