Quick answer: Special education degrees usually cover assessment, individualized education programs, behavior support and evidence-based intervention. Pay sits at a median of $65,120, headcount is projected to shrink slightly, and openings still run at about 15,400 a year because people leave the role. Programs, careers and pay are covered below.
Most programs include a supervised student teaching placement in a school. Distance students should confirm early how a program arranges placements in their own district, because that logistics question decides whether an online program is genuinely completable where you live.
This site already covers teaching, and it covers it from one specific angle. Online Teaching Degree is built around career and technical education: the reader who has spent fifteen years in a trade and wants to teach it in a classroom or shop. That is a real and underserved route, and it is not this one.
CIP 13.1001, special education and teaching, is a separate program code awarded by 751 institutions at degree level in 2024 (IPEDS Completions, 2024). A reader searching for special education programs and landing on a CTE teaching page would see a school list drawn from different program codes and a curriculum with no assessment, intervention or education law content in it.
The two do intersect. Special education teachers work with students in vocational and transition programs, and CTE teachers routinely teach students with individualized plans. But they are different credentials with different endorsements, and this page exists so the school list matches the search.
Before you request information anywhere, ask how a program arranges student teaching for distance students in your district and get a written transfer evaluation. With those questions ready, compare online special education programs enrolling now:
Every school listed is verified in federal IPEDS data both to award this degree and to offer programs that can be completed entirely by distance education at this level. Whether this exact degree is delivered fully online varies by school, so confirm the format before you apply.
This page lists 10 schools, closest group first, then ordered by BOC Score with the highest at the top. 10 of them carry a score.
Scores come from IPEDS (2024) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Earnings are for all graduates of a school, not one program, so treat them as a signal about the institution rather than about this subject. Sponsored listings are paid placements and are labelled as such; they are separate from this ranking and never change it. Read the full methodology.
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Teaching in a public school is state-licensed in every state, and special education is normally an endorsement on top of a base teaching license. The national framework looks broadly the same everywhere: an approved preparation program, supervised student teaching, one or more examinations, and a background check.
Everything below that level of description varies. Which examinations count, how endorsements are structured, what an out-of-state license transfers into, and what alternative routes exist for candidates who already hold a degree in another field are all state decisions and all subject to change. This page does not state them, and no page should state them to you without naming the state.
Confirm the current requirements with the licensing board in the state where you intend to teach, before you enroll rather than after. If you may move, ask specifically about reciprocity.
People with patience for slow, documented progress. The work is incremental and heavily recorded. Anyone who has kept a job log on a long project will recognize the discipline it takes.
Career changers who want a schedule with a floor under it. School employment is predictable in a way that shift work and on-call trades are not, and that predictability is often the actual reason people make this move.
Tradespeople already thinking about teaching. If the pull is toward teaching your own craft, the CTE teacher route is the closer match and the shorter path. If the pull is toward the students rather than the subject, this is the page.
Credit transfer is decided by the receiving institution and genuinely varies, so request a written transfer evaluation before you enroll.
The federal projection for kindergarten and elementary special education teachers is -1.8 percent through 2034, moving from 230,200 jobs to 226,100 (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). Read that in isolation and it looks like a closing field.
It is not, and the openings figure is why: about 15,400 a year in that group alone. Those openings come from people leaving the role rather than from new positions being created, and in this occupation people leave it at a steady rate. The demand a job seeker actually experiences is set by turnover far more than by net growth.
The preschool group moves the other way, projected at 1.4 percent from 29,300 to 29,700, with about 2,100 openings a year. Both are essentially flat headcount with a live hiring stream underneath.
The honest implication for a student: this is a stable field to enter and a poor field to expect rapid advancement in. Pay progression is mostly governed by district salary schedules tied to years of service and credential level, not by a growing market bidding for people.
The case for is stability and a real hiring stream. A median of $65,120 with a defined salary schedule, a predictable calendar and about 15,400 annual openings is a durable position, and the skills are portable across states once licensure is sorted.
The case against is the ceiling and the attrition. The 90th percentile at kindergarten and elementary level is $103,010, and reaching it generally means long service plus a graduate credential. The turnover that produces those openings is also a signal about the working conditions that produce it. Anyone considering this should talk to someone currently doing it before enrolling.
Is college worth it covers the general tradeoff. Individual outcomes may vary.
Special education teachers at kindergarten and elementary level earn a median $65,120 across 260,870 jobs, with employment projected to change by -1.8 percent through 2034 (BLS OEWS, May 2025; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34).
| Metric | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Median annual wage | $65,120 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Mean annual wage | $72,650 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Wage range | $49,350 (10th pct) - $103,010 (90th pct) | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Employment | 260,870 kindergarten and elementary special education teachers | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Projected change (2024-34) | -1.8%, about 15,400 openings per year | BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34 |
| Typical credential | Bachelor’s, with master’s common for advancement on district schedules | Program catalogs |
| Institutions awarding | 751 | IPEDS Completions, 2024 |
| SOC codes covered | 25-2052 special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary; 25-2051 special education teachers, preschool | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Role | Median | 75th percentile | Employment | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary | $65,120 | $80,280 | 260,870 | -1.8% |
| Special education teachers, preschool | $64,830 | $91,660 | 29,510 | 1.4% |
All wage and employment figures BLS OEWS, May 2025; growth figures BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34.
The medians are nearly identical and the distributions are not. Preschool special education has a lower floor, at a 10th percentile of $45,620, and a much higher ceiling, at a 90th percentile of $130,040 against $103,010 for the kindergarten and elementary group. That spread reflects how varied preschool employment settings and funding sources are, from public school programs to publicly funded early intervention services.
Wages in both groups have moved modestly: the 2024 median for kindergarten and elementary was $63,000 and for preschool $62,190 (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34).
At kindergarten and elementary level the national median annual wage is $65,120 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The bottom 10 percent earn $49,350 or less and the top 10 percent earn $103,010 or more, across employment of 260,870.
Not by headcount. Employment of kindergarten and elementary special education teachers is projected to change by -1.8 percent from 2024 to 2034, and the preschool group by 1.4 percent (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). Openings still run at about 15,400 a year in the larger group, because they come from people leaving the role rather than from new positions.
Yes. Public school teaching is state-licensed everywhere, and special education normally carries its own endorsement on top of the base license. Requirements, examinations and reciprocity between states all differ, so confirm the current rules with the licensing board in the state where you intend to teach before you enroll.
751 institutions awarded CIP 13.1001 at bachelor's or master's level in 2024 (IPEDS Completions, 2024). It is one of the more widely offered education program codes.
The [Online Teaching Degree](/programs/online-teaching-degree/) page is built around career and technical education - the route for a tradesperson who wants to teach their trade. This page covers CIP 13.1001, special education, which is a different program code, a different endorsement and a different classroom.
Largely, yes. The coursework delivers well at a distance, and this is one of the more established online education fields. Student teaching and supervised field placements happen in a real school, so ask each program how it arranges placements in your area before you apply.
The medians are close, at $64,830 for preschool against $65,120 for kindergarten and elementary, but the spread is wider at preschool level - a 10th percentile of $45,620 and a 90th percentile of $130,040 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Setting and funding source drive most of that difference.
State pay, licensing and metro-level data for this degree. Wage and employment figures on every state page come from BLS OEWS, May 2025.
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About this guide: Researched and written by the TradeCareerPath Editorial Team. Our editorial team researches and sources every trade school and career guide using federal labor and education data, including BLS OEWS and Employment Projections, DOL apprenticeship records, IPEDS, College Scorecard, and state licensing boards. We follow the editorial standards documented at /editorial-policy/.
