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Best Value Special Education Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Special Education Master's Degree Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

30 Colleges
$13,305 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$49,761 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Special Education Master's Degree School for You

Special Education is the #16 most popular major in California with 1,632 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Special Education Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 30 schools in California to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for special ed students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Special Education Master’s Degree Schools in California

Check out the special ed master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Special Education Master's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named California State University - Los Angeles the best value school in California for special education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, Cal State LA is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Cal State LA are $8,219 a year.

Read full report on Special Education at California State University - Los Angeles

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Long Beach. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Special Education Master’s Degree Schools in California list. CSULB is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Long Beach.

CSULB graduate students pay an average of $8,280 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Special Education at California State University - Long Beach

Out of the 30 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Concordia University, Irvine landed the # 3 spot on the list. Concordia University, Irvine is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Irvine.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Concordia University, Irvine are $8,564 a year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Concordia University, Irvine also is in the top 15% of our Best Special Education Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking.

Read More…

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means California State University - San Marcos is a great value for special education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of San Marcos, CSUSM is a public college with a large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSUSM are $9,161 per year.

Read full report on Special Education at California State University - San Marcos

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - San Bernardino. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Special Education Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the medium-sized city of San Bernardino, CSUSB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

CSUSB graduate students pay an average of $8,647 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Special Education at California State University - San Bernardino

California State University - Fresno did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for special education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the large city of Fresno, Fresno State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Fresno State are $8,087 a year.

Read full report on Special Education at California State University - Fresno

California State University - East Bay did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for special education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Hayward, Cal State East Bay is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Cal State East Bay are $8,429 a year.

Full Special Education at California State University - East Bay Report

With a ranking of #8, California State University - Northridge did quite well on this year’s best value schools for special education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Northridge, CSUN is a public school with a very large student population.

CSUN graduate students pay an average of $8,477 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

California State University - Dominguez Hills ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Special Education Master’s Degree Schools in California list. CSUDH is a fairly large public school located in the city of Carson.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at CSUDH are $8,494 a year.

Read More…

Point Loma Nazarene University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for special education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. PLNU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Diego.

PLNU graduate students pay an average of $11,880 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Special Education at Point Loma Nazarene University Report

Best Value Special Education Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Special Education Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 90
Oregon 180
Nevada 147
Hawaii 28
Alaska 46

One of 14 majors within the area of study, special education has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Educational Administration 45,458
Teacher Education Grade Specific 34,451
General Education 21,189
Teacher Education Subject Specific 20,616
Curriculum & Instruction 19,784

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to woodleywonderworks.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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