Which Kentucky special education program has the lowest debt?

Murray State reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,775, with first-year pay of $36,197.

How much do special education graduates earn in Kentucky?

The median across 7 Kentucky special education bachelor's programs is $38,807 in the first year after graduating and $41,525 five years after.

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

7 Kentucky programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 7 of them also report federal debt.

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

7 programs report first-year pay
7 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 Kentucky special education bachelor's program pays its graduates $38,807 in their first year, $5,388 less than the national median. University of Kentucky reports the highest first-year pay ($41,217), and Murray State the lowest median debt ($20,775).

Median first-year pay$38,807National $44,195

Median pay after 5 years$41,525National $49,900

Median federal debt$27,000National $26,564

Debt-to-earnings70%National 58%

All 7 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	University of KentuckyLexington · public	$41,217	$45,328	$26,500	64%
2	Bellarmine UniversityLouisville · private nonprofit	$40,785	$45,601	$27,000	66%
3	Northern Kentucky UniversityHighland Heights · public	$40,333	Not reported	$30,750	76%
4	Western Kentucky UniversityBowling Green · public	$38,807	Not reported	$27,000	70%
5	Eastern Kentucky UniversityRichmond · public	$38,485	$42,418	$28,381	74%
6	Morehead StateMorehead · public	$36,999	$40,027	$26,878	73%
7	Murray StateMurray · public	$36,197	$39,132	$20,775	57%

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 7 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

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

$60,730

Median pay in Kentucky. 2,680 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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%: $46,610Top 10%: $79,870

Special Education Teachers, Middle School

$60,200

Median pay in Kentucky. 1,530 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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%: $44,070Top 10%: $75,970

Interpreters and Translators

$53,590

Median pay in Kentucky. 480 people work in this job in Kentucky. 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%: $35,160Top 10%: $81,800

Special Education Teachers, Preschool

$54,220

Median pay in Kentucky. 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%: $35,690Top 10%: $64,000

Common questions

University of Kentucky in Lexington reports the highest median first-year pay, $41,217. Its median federal debt is $26,500.

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 Kentucky 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