Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania Special Education (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Special Education and Teaching
- Public university
- Shippensburg, PA
- About 48 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania special education graduates earn more than graduates of most special education programs nationally, $49,835 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $28,500 in federal loans, more than at 84% of special education programs in the country. Several Pennsylvania programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Pennsylvania and national columns are the medians across all special education bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Pennsylvania special education program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Pennsylvania medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned about the same in their first year as other graduates. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $302 a month, or 7.3% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
83% of graduates (33 of 40) were working in Pennsylvania one year after graduating. Prices in the Harrisburg area are about 1% below the national average, so a $49,835 salary here buys what about $50,517 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to special education, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
$77,000Median pay in Pennsylvania. 11,040 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Special Education Teachers, Middle School
$77,040Median pay in Pennsylvania. 3,710 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Interpreters and Translators
$57,040Median pay in Pennsylvania. 1,420 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Special Education Teachers, Preschool
$83,510Median pay in Pennsylvania. 490 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 2,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Special Education ranks 5th of 24 bachelor's programs at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Engineering ($80,574), Computer and Information Science ($74,598), and Accounting ($58,049).
Other special education bachelor's programs near Shippensburg
Common questions
The median graduate earns $49,835 one year after graduating. The median across special education bachelor's programs in Pennsylvania is $49,242.
The median federal loan balance is $28,500, which ranks 12th lowest of 13 special education bachelor's programs in Pennsylvania. That works out to about $302 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 57% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 58%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Pennsylvania programs report higher pay.
Most do. 83% (33 of 40) were working in Pennsylvania one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Pennsylvania comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the special education program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024