2024 Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools in Washington

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 2024, College Factual analyzed 7 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools in Washington ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 72 master's degrees in special education during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

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 quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider 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 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.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Washington ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

 

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Special Education in Washington

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in special education.

Top Washington Schools for a Master's in Special Ed

1

University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Seattle, WA

27 Annual Graduates

$65,284 Median Starting Salary

University of Washington - Seattle Campus is a great option for students pursuing a master's degree in special education. UW Seattle is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Seattle.

Special Education master's degree recipients from University of Washington - Seattle Campus receive an earnings boost of approximately $4,736 over the typical income of special education graduates.

More information about a master’s in special education from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

2

Whitworth University
Spokane, WA

18 Annual Graduates

$57,992 Median Starting Salary

Whitworth University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in special education. Located in the large suburb of Spokane, Whitworth is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the special ed program make an average of $57,992 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in special education from Whitworth University

3

Gonzaga University
Spokane, WA

4 Annual Graduates

Gonzaga University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in special education. Gonzaga is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Spokane.More information about a master’s in special education from Gonzaga University

4

Seattle University
Seattle, WA

3 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Seattle University if you want to pursue a master's degree in special education. Located in the city of Seattle, Seattle U is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in special education from Seattle University

5

Washington State University
Pullman, WA

4 Annual Graduates

$58,369 Median Starting Salary

Wazzu is a fairly large public university located in the town of Pullman.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the special ed program make an average of $58,369 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in special education from Washington State University

6

Central Washington University
Ellensburg, WA

CWU is a medium-sized public university located in the distant town of Ellensburg.More information about a master’s in special education from Central Washington University

7

Eastern Washington University
Cheney, WA

16 Annual Graduates

EWU is a large public university located in the town of Cheney.More information about a master’s in special education from Eastern Washington University

Best Special Education Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Special Education Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
California	253	1,393
Oregon	158	160
Nevada	105	142
Hawaii	85	28
Alaska	52	21

View All Rankings >

Special Education Related Rankings by Major

One of 14 majors within the Education area of study, Special Education has other similar majors worth exploring.

Special Ed Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
General Special Education	71
Education/Teaching of Individuals Who are Developmentally Delayed	1

Most Popular Majors Related to Special Ed

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific	647
General Education	399
Educational Administration	239
Teacher Education Subject Specific	172
Curriculum & Instruction	166
Student Counseling	141
Teaching English or French	24
Educational Assessment	7
Instructional Media Design	6
Multilingual Education	5

Notes and References

• 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to woodleywonderworks. More about our data sources and methodologies.