Which Florida special education program has the lowest debt?

Miami Dade College reports the lowest median federal debt, $9,671, with first-year pay of $53,935.

How much do special education graduates earn in Florida?

The median across 9 Florida special education bachelor's programs is $48,147 in the first year after graduating and $53,010 five years after.

How many special education bachelor's programs are in Florida?

9 Florida programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

Special Education (Bachelor's) Programs in Florida, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

9 programs report first-year pay
5 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Special Education and Teaching

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Florida special education bachelor's program pays its graduates $48,147 in their first year, $3,952 more than the national median. FAU reports the highest first-year pay ($56,009), and Miami Dade College the lowest median debt ($9,671).

Median first-year pay$48,147National $44,195

Median pay after 5 years$53,010National $49,900

Median federal debt$21,370National $26,564

Debt-to-earnings49%National 58%

All 9 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	FAUBoca Raton · public	$56,009	$56,998	Not reported	Not reported
2	Miami Dade CollegeMiami · public	$53,935	Not reported	$9,671	18%
3	USFTampa · public	$50,975	$52,875	Not reported	Not reported
4	Broward CollegeFort Lauderdale · public	$49,262	$53,145	Not reported	Not reported
5	UCFOrlando · public	$48,147	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	University of North FloridaJacksonville · public	$47,734	$52,358	$13,509	28%
7	Florida Gulf Coast UniversityFort Myers · public	$46,866	$55,014	$22,931	49%
8	University of West FloridaPensacola · public	$46,643	$47,301	$29,750	64%
9	FIUMiami · public	$36,598	$62,506	$20,031	55%

FAU, USF, Broward College, and UCF report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Florida special education program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Florida medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

FAU$56,009
Miami Dade College$53,935
USF$50,975
Broward College$49,262
UCF$48,147

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$61,510

Median pay in Florida. 7,940 people work in this job in Florida. 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.

Bottom 10%: $51,360Top 10%: $79,170

Special Education Teachers, Middle School

$60,440

Median pay in Florida. 2,630 people work in this job in Florida. 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.

Bottom 10%: $50,160Top 10%: $73,210

Interpreters and Translators

$48,930

Median pay in Florida. 4,200 people work in this job in Florida. 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.

Bottom 10%: $34,290Top 10%: $99,590

Special Education Teachers, Preschool

$58,240

Median pay in Florida. 1,370 people work in this job in Florida. 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.

Bottom 10%: $50,100Top 10%: $78,340

Common questions

FAU in Boca Raton reports the highest median first-year pay, $56,009.

Special Education (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked166 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 Florida rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the special education bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024