Federal data

Largest special education programs in the United States

U.S. special education programs, ranked by awards conferred in 2024, the latest IPEDS completions year on file. At least 5 schools must offer the program for this list to exist.

RankSchoolCitySectorAwards conferred
1Ball State UniversityMunciePublic, 4-year1,723
2Grand Canyon UniversityPhoenixFor-profit, 4-year1,564
3Arizona State UniversityScottsdalePublic, 4-year1,555
4Western Governors UniversitySalt Lake CityPrivate nonprofit, 4-year898
5Touro UniversityNew YorkPrivate nonprofit, 4-year754
6Lamar UniversityBeaumontPublic, 4-year492
7Liberty UniversityLynchburgPrivate nonprofit, 4-year351
8University of West FloridaPensacolaPublic, 4-year322
9George Mason UniversityFairfaxPublic, 4-year313
10St. Joseph's University-New YorkBrooklynPrivate nonprofit, 4-year263
11Illinois State UniversityNormalPublic, 4-year263
12Slippery Rock University of PennsylvaniaSlippery RockPublic, 4-year213
13Niagara UniversityNiagara UniversityPrivate nonprofit, 4-year209
14Bowling Green State UniversityBowling GreenPublic, 4-year208
15Towson UniversityTowsonPublic, 4-year207
16Arkansas Tech UniversityRussellvillePublic, 4-year197
17University of Mount Saint VincentBronxPrivate nonprofit, 4-year166
18University of West GeorgiaCarrolltonPublic, 4-year159
19University of Northern ColoradoGreeleyPublic, 4-year158
20University of Nevada-Las VegasLas VegasPublic, 4-year148
21Northern Arizona UniversityFlagstaffPublic, 4-year147
22University of KansasLawrencePublic, 4-year132
23The College of New JerseyEwingPublic, 4-year130
24University of CincinnatiCincinnatiPublic, 4-year126

Completions counts total awards conferred, summed across every credential level, from IPEDS.

How to read this. A larger school naturally confers more awards in a common program; this counts total completions, not selectivity. A campus that is part of one multi-campus system is shown as a single row when more than two of its campuses would otherwise appear.