Which North Carolina special education program has the lowest debt?

UNC Wilmington reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,500, with first-year pay of $42,584.

How much do special education graduates earn in North Carolina?

The median across 6 North Carolina special education bachelor's programs is $42,830 in the first year after graduating and $46,264 five years after.

How many special education bachelor's programs are in North Carolina?

6 North Carolina programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 6 of them also report federal debt.

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

6 programs report first-year pay
6 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 North Carolina special education bachelor's program pays its graduates $42,830 in their first year, $1,366 less than the national median. East Carolina University reports the highest first-year pay ($44,185), and UNC Wilmington the lowest median debt ($19,500).

Median first-year pay$42,830National $44,195

Median pay after 5 years$46,264National $49,900

Median federal debt$24,500National $26,564

Debt-to-earnings57%National 58%

All 6 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	East Carolina UniversityGreenville · public	$44,185	$46,759	$26,416	60%
2	Appalachian StateBoone · public	$43,283	$49,424	$25,000	58%
3	UNC GreensboroGreensboro · public	$42,967	$44,554	$24,000	56%
4	UNC CharlotteCharlotte · public	$42,692	$45,769	$26,602	62%
5	UNC WilmingtonWilmington · public	$42,584	$51,603	$19,500	46%
6	Western Carolina UniversityCullowhee · public	$41,376	$43,364	$20,485	50%

Debt and first-year pay at every North Carolina special education program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 6 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

$56,770

Median pay in North Carolina. 3,400 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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%: $45,200Top 10%: $70,600

Special Education Teachers, Middle School

$59,360

Median pay in North Carolina. 2,470 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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%: $44,580Top 10%: $73,670

Interpreters and Translators

$50,030

Median pay in North Carolina. 1,780 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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%: $34,510Top 10%: $101,110

Special Education Teachers, Preschool

$60,180

Median pay in North Carolina. 640 people work in this job in North Carolina. 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%: $42,300Top 10%: $73,780

Common questions

East Carolina University in Greenville reports the highest median first-year pay, $44,185. Its median federal debt is $26,416.

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 North Carolina 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