US College Programs

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

  • 5 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 Minnesota special education bachelor's program pays its graduates $46,697 in their first year, $2,502 more than the national median. University of Minnesota reports the highest first-year pay ($49,771), and University of Minnesota the lowest median debt ($18,387).

Median first-year pay$46,697National $44,195
Median pay after 5 years$52,142National $49,900
Median federal debt$27,000National $26,564
Debt-to-earnings58%National 58%

All 5 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.

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

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

  1. University of Minnesota$49,771
  2. Minnesota State Mankato$47,132
  3. Winona State$46,697
  4. Saint Cloud State$46,662
  5. Southwest Minnesota State$44,510

Lowest median debt

  1. University of Minnesota$18,387
  2. Minnesota State Mankato$27,000
  3. Winona State$27,000
  4. Saint Cloud State$28,250
  5. Southwest Minnesota State$30,542

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. University of Minnesota37%
  2. Minnesota State Mankato57%
  3. Winona State58%
  4. Saint Cloud State61%
  5. Southwest Minnesota State69%

"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

$76,600

Median pay in Minnesota. 4,130 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $49,410Top 10%: $102,390

Special Education Teachers, Middle School

$63,630

Median pay in Minnesota. 1,930 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $49,100Top 10%: $93,820

Interpreters and Translators

$66,410

Median pay in Minnesota. 1,030 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $52,290Top 10%: $91,150

Special Education Teachers, Preschool

$75,880

Median pay in Minnesota. 1,250 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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%: $43,020Top 10%: $101,100

Common questions

University of Minnesota in Minneapolis reports the highest median first-year pay, $49,771. Its median federal debt is $18,387.

Related pages

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 Minnesota 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

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024