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2023 Most Popular Colleges for Special Education in Iowa

11 Ranked Colleges
180 Degrees Awarded
$29,900 Avg Cost*
Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Special Education is the 29th most popular major in the country with 36,792 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, special education graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $45,679 and had an average of $24,977 in loans still to pay off.

Across Iowa, there were 180 special education graduates with average earnings and debt of $51,893 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa” ranking looked at 11 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in special education. This ranking identifies schools that graduate the most students in special education.

See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa

The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa”.

1
Morningside crest
Morningside College
Sioux City, Iowa

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Morningside College. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa list. Morningside College is a small school located in Sioux City, Iowa that handed out 102 ’s special ed degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Special Education at Morningside College

2

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Upper Iowa University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa list. Fayette, Iowa is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s special ed degrees to 33 students in 2020-2021.

Read full report on Special Education at UIU

3
BVU crest
Buena Vista University
Storm Lake, Iowa

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Buena Vista University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa list. BVU is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Storm Lake, Iowa. It awarded 14 ’s special ed degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read more about Special Education at BVU

4
NWC crest
Northwestern College
Orange City, Iowa

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa list. Northwestern College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Orange City, Iowa. The school has a small population, and it awarded 9 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Special Education at NWC

5
Iowa crest
University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa

Out of the 11 schools in the Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Iowa landed the #5 spot on the list. Iowa is a large school located in Iowa City, Iowa that handed out 8 ’s special ed degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%.

Read full report on Special Education at Iowa

6

University of Northern Iowa landed the #6 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa ranking. UNI is located in Cedar Falls, Iowa and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 4 ’s special ed degrees to qualified students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Special Education at UNI

7
Dordt crest
Dordt University
Sioux Center, Iowa

Dordt University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa ranking. Dordt is a private not-for-profit institution located in Sioux Center, Iowa. The school has a small population, and it awarded 3 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Special Education at Dordt University

7

Graceland University - Lamoni ranked #7 on this year’s Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa list. Located in Lamoni, Iowa, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 3 diplomas to qualified ’s special ed students in 2020-2021.

Read more about Special Education at Graceland Lamoni

7

Iowa State University did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa ranking, coming in at #7. This large school is located in Ames, Iowa, and it awarded 3 ’s special ed degrees in 2020-2021.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Special Education at Iowa State

10
Mount Mercy crest
Mount Mercy University
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Mount Mercy University ranked #10 on this year’s Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa list. This small school is located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and it awarded 1 ’s special ed degrees in 2020-2021.

Read more about Special Education at Mount Mercy

11

Saint Ambrose University ranked #11 on this year’s Most Well Attended Special Ed Major in Iowa list. Located in Davenport, Iowa, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 0 diplomas to qualified ’s special ed students in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full Saint Ambrose University Special Education Report

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