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2024 Best Special Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

22 Colleges in Illinois
522 Bachelor's Degrees
$41,457 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on getting your bachelor's degree in special education, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #55 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual reviewed 22 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of special education. Combined, these schools handed out 522 bachelor's degrees in special education to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Special Education School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Special Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois The special ed bachelor'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 bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection 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 bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor'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.

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 bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Special Ed Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Special Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois list to help you make the college 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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.


 

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Special Education in Illinois

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

10 Top Illinois Schools for a Bachelor's in Special Ed

1
160 Annual Graduates
$43,480 Median Starting Salary
$20,436 Median Student Debt

Illinois State University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in special education. Illinois State is a fairly large public university located in the midsize suburb of Normal.

Special Education bachelor's degree recipients from Illinois State University get an earnings boost of about $2,023 above the average earnings of special education majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in special education from Illinois State University

2
28 Annual Graduates
$44,023 Median Starting Salary
$18,925 Median Student Debt

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in special education has to look into University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Champaign.

Bachelor's recipients from the special education major at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign make $2,566 above the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in special education from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

3
6 Annual Graduates

Loyola University Chicago is a wonderful option for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in special education. Loyola Chicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.More information about a bachelor’s in special education from Loyola University Chicago

4

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in special education needs to check out Bradley University. Bradley is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Peoria.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the special ed program earn around $38,322 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in special education from Bradley University

5
Lewis crest
Lewis University
Romeoville, IL
32 Annual Graduates
$40,568 Median Starting Salary
$25,000 Median Student Debt

Lewis is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Romeoville.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the special ed program earn about $40,568 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in special education from Lewis University

6
Trinity Christian crest
Trinity Christian College
Palos Heights, IL
27 Annual Graduates
$44,363 Median Starting Salary
$35,611 Median Student Debt

Trinity Christian is a small private not-for-profit college located in the suburb of Palos Heights.

Those special education students who get their bachelor's degree from Trinity Christian College receive $2,906 more than the standard special ed graduate.

More information about a bachelor’s in special education from Trinity Christian College

7
26 Annual Graduates
$22,875 Median Student Debt

SIUC is a large public university located in the city of Carbondale.More information about a bachelor’s in special education from Southern Illinois University Carbondale

8
Aurora crest
Aurora University
Aurora, IL

Aurora is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Aurora.

Those special education students who get their bachelor's degree from Aurora University earn $4,464 more than the typical special ed grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in special education from Aurora University

9
54 Annual Graduates
$40,969 Median Starting Salary
$21,452 Median Student Debt

Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the special ed program state that they receive average early career income of $40,969.

More information about a bachelor’s in special education from Northern Illinois University

10
Elmhurst crest
Elmhurst University
Elmhurst, IL
25 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Elmhurst, Elmhurst is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in special education from Elmhurst University

Best Special Education Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Special Education Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 261 318
Ohio 252 840
Indiana 235 238
Wisconsin 213 310

View All Rankings >

Special Education is one of 14 different types of Education programs to choose from.

Special Ed Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Special Education 494
Education/Teaching of Individuals in Early Childhood Special Education Programs 16
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Multiple Disabilities 8
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Specific Learning Disabilities 2
Education/Teaching of Individuals Who are Developmentally Delayed 2

Related Major Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific 2,278
Teacher Education Subject Specific 883
General Education 89
Multilingual Education 9
Educational Assessment 8
Other Education 6
Educational Administration 4
Teaching Assistants 1

Notes and References

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