Which Wisconsin special education program has the lowest debt?

UW-Madison reports the lowest median federal debt, $22,863, with first-year pay of $50,174.

How much do special education graduates earn in Wisconsin?

The median across 10 Wisconsin special education bachelor's programs is $46,978 in the first year after graduating and $48,264 five years after.

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

10 Wisconsin programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

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

10 programs report first-year pay
8 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 Wisconsin special education bachelor's program pays its graduates $46,978 in their first year, $2,783 more than the national median. UW-Madison reports the highest first-year pay ($50,174), and UW-Madison the lowest median debt ($22,863).

Median first-year pay$46,978National $44,195

Median pay after 5 years$48,264National $49,900

Median federal debt$26,688National $26,564

Debt-to-earnings56%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	UW-MadisonMadison · public	$50,174	$55,063	$22,863	46%
2	Carthage CollegeKenosha · private nonprofit	$48,593	$47,182	$25,954	53%
3	UW-MilwaukeeMilwaukee · public	$48,378	Not reported	$26,375	55%
4	UW-WhitewaterWhitewater · public	$47,592	$51,281	$27,000	57%
5	Concordia University-WisconsinMequon · private nonprofit	$47,295	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	Carroll UniversityWaukesha · private nonprofit	$46,661	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
7	UW-Eau ClaireEau Claire · public	$46,508	$49,346	$27,000	58%
8	UW-StoutMenomonie · public	$45,196	Not reported	$30,000	66%
9	UW-OshkoshOshkosh · public	$44,945	$46,734	$27,000	60%
10	UW-Stevens PointStevens Point · public	$43,844	$46,793	$23,607	54%

Concordia University-Wisconsin and Carroll University report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 8 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

UW-Madison$50,174
Carthage College$48,593
UW-Milwaukee$48,378
UW-Whitewater$47,592
Concordia University-Wisconsin$47,295

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

$63,520

Median pay in Wisconsin. 3,350 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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%: $48,870Top 10%: $83,170

Special Education Teachers, Middle School

$65,840

Median pay in Wisconsin. 2,650 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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%: $47,480Top 10%: $94,660

Interpreters and Translators

$63,390

Median pay in Wisconsin. 1,410 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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%: $40,390Top 10%: $88,460

Special Education Teachers, Preschool

$60,870

Median pay in Wisconsin. 240 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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%: $46,580Top 10%: $82,200

Common questions

UW-Madison in Madison reports the highest median first-year pay, $50,174. Its median federal debt is $22,863.

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 Wisconsin 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