Which Illinois special education program has the lowest debt?

UIUC reports the lowest median federal debt, $18,925, with first-year pay of $51,922.

How much do special education graduates earn in Illinois?

The median across 10 Illinois special education bachelor's programs is $46,205 in the first year after graduating and $51,770 five years after.

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

10 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 10 of them also report federal debt.

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

10 programs report first-year pay
10 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 Illinois special education bachelor's program pays its graduates $46,205 in their first year, $2,010 more than the national median. UIUC reports the highest first-year pay ($51,922), and UIUC the lowest median debt ($18,925).

Median first-year pay$46,205National $44,195

Median pay after 5 years$51,770National $49,900

Median federal debt$23,188National $26,564

Debt-to-earnings52%National 58%

All 10 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	UIUCChampaign · public	$51,922	$67,699	$18,925	36%
2	Trinity Christian CollegePalos Heights · private nonprofit	$48,840	$58,755	$35,611	73%
3	Illinois StateNormal · public	$48,358	$56,275	$20,436	42%
4	Western Illinois UniversityMacomb · public	$46,729	$48,274	$25,986	56%
5	Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb · public	$46,578	$57,132	$21,452	46%
6	Lewis UniversityRomeoville · private nonprofit	$45,831	Not reported	$25,000	55%
7	University of St FrancisJoliet · private nonprofit	$45,323	Not reported	$23,500	52%
8	Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale · public	$44,429	$46,500	$22,875	51%
9	Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsville · public	$44,205	$43,701	$19,850	45%
10	Eastern Illinois UniversityCharleston · public	$43,955	$51,770	$26,046	59%

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 10 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

UIUC$18,925
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville$19,850
Illinois State$20,436
Northern Illinois University$21,452
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale$22,875

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

$79,890

Median pay in Illinois. 9,490 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $49,920Top 10%: $129,260

Special Education Teachers, Middle School

$74,730

Median pay in Illinois. 4,460 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $49,660Top 10%: $102,200

Interpreters and Translators

$55,290

Median pay in Illinois. 1,510 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $37,990Top 10%: $82,370

Special Education Teachers, Preschool

$62,580

Median pay in Illinois. 1,080 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $42,320Top 10%: $100,460

Common questions

UIUC in Champaign reports the highest median first-year pay, $51,922. Its median federal debt is $18,925.

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 Illinois 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