Which Ohio special education program has the lowest debt?

University of Dayton reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,612, with first-year pay of $45,260.

How much do special education graduates earn in Ohio?

The median across 15 Ohio special education bachelor's programs is $39,139 in the first year after graduating and $45,441 five years after.

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

15 Ohio programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 14 of them also report federal debt.

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

15 programs report first-year pay
14 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 Ohio special education bachelor's program pays its graduates $39,139 in their first year, $5,056 less than the national median. University of Dayton reports the highest first-year pay ($45,260), and University of Dayton the lowest median debt ($20,612).

Median first-year pay$39,139National $44,195

Median pay after 5 years$45,441National $49,900

Median federal debt$26,975National $26,564

Debt-to-earnings65%National 58%

All 15 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 DaytonDayton · private nonprofit	$45,260	$50,844	$20,612	46%
2	Ohio StateColumbus · public	$45,213	$49,462	$26,899	59%
3	Capital UniversityColumbus · private nonprofit	$42,709	$49,486	$27,000	63%
4	University of CincinnatiCincinnati · public	$42,347	Not reported	$25,046	59%
5	Miami UniversityOxford · public	$41,871	$46,116	$27,000	64%
6	Ohio UniversityAthens · public	$41,362	$46,532	$26,950	65%
7	University of ToledoToledo · public	$40,952	$48,539	$22,073	54%
8	Kent StateKent · public	$39,139	$45,441	$25,000	64%
9	Bowling Green StateBowling Green · public	$38,671	$43,416	$27,000	70%
10	Shawnee StatePortsmouth · public	$37,020	Not reported	$27,000	73%
11	University of Mount UnionAlliance · private nonprofit	$36,444	$44,261	Not reported	Not reported
12	Ashland UniversityAshland · private nonprofit	$35,709	$44,126	$27,000	76%
13	Youngstown StateYoungstown · public	$35,220	$40,430	$29,125	83%
14	University of AkronAkron · public	$34,073	$41,933	$26,000	76%
15	Defiance CollegeDefiance · private nonprofit	$29,443	Not reported	$28,500	97%

University of Mount Union reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 14 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

$76,180

Median pay in Ohio. 10,580 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $47,800Top 10%: $100,400

Special Education Teachers, Middle School

$74,590

Median pay in Ohio. 7,540 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $47,630Top 10%: $98,120

Interpreters and Translators

$61,230

Median pay in Ohio. 2,030 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $39,300Top 10%: $91,920

Special Education Teachers, Preschool

$60,700

Median pay in Ohio. 1,150 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $45,630Top 10%: $101,580

Common questions

University of Dayton in Dayton reports the highest median first-year pay, $45,260. Its median federal debt is $20,612.

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 Ohio 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