Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Special Education and Teaching

Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.

50

Schools Ranked

$37,701

Avg. Earnings

1.7 yrs

Best Payback

8,689

Graduates

How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.

#	School	Net Price/yr	Major Earnings	Payback
1	Texas A & M International University Laredo, TX · Public	$4,262	$44,747	1.7 yrs
2	Northeastern Illinois University Chicago, IL · Public	$16,540	$52,107	3.9 yrs
3	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY · Private	$23,533	$57,318	4.2 yrs
4	Boston University Boston, MA · Private	$18,458	$50,606	4.7 yrs
5	Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL · Public	$12,323	$45,383	4.7 yrs
6	Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers, FL · Public	$11,133	$44,102	4.9 yrs
7	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL · Public	$11,505	$44,170	5 yrs
8	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI · Public	$15,183	$46,673	5.2 yrs
9	Kean University Union, NJ · Public	$20,486	$49,855	5.5 yrs
10	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA · Public	$17,235	$47,064	5.7 yrs
11	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	$10,364	$42,123	5.8 yrs
12	Towson University Towson, MD · Public	$17,667	$46,991	5.9 yrs
13	Western Washington University Bellingham, WA · Public	$16,819	$45,826	6.2 yrs
14	Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA · Public	$12,224	$42,682	6.4 yrs
15	State University of New York at Cortland Cortland, NY · Public	$18,700	$46,087	6.7 yrs
16	Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL · Public	$13,778	$43,277	6.7 yrs
17	University of Nevada-Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV · Public	$11,929	$41,789	7 yrs
18	Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN · Public	$13,140	$42,458	7 yrs
19	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA · Public	$19,085	$45,867	7 yrs
20	Southwest Minnesota State University Marshall, MN · Public	$12,156	$41,937	7 yrs
21	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN · Public	$12,369	$41,995	7.1 yrs
22	Southern Connecticut State University New Haven, CT · Public	$21,008	$46,738	7.2 yrs
23	University of St Francis Joliet, IL · Private	$16,055	$43,798	7.3 yrs
24	Rhode Island College Providence, RI · Public	$12,509	$41,565	7.6 yrs
25	Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO · Public	$14,679	$42,309	8 yrs
26	University of South Florida Tampa, FL · Public	$9,669	$39,860	8 yrs
27	University of North Florida Jacksonville, FL · Public	$10,194	$40,017	8.1 yrs
28	Hood College Frederick, MD · Private	$24,167	$45,980	8.8 yrs
29	Illinois State University Normal, IL · Public	$19,293	$43,584	9 yrs
30	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Carbondale, IL · Public	$14,499	$41,441	9 yrs
31	Winona State University Winona, MN · Public	$15,289	$41,667	9.2 yrs
32	University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Oshkosh, WI · Public	$14,157	$41,069	9.3 yrs
33	Ball State University Muncie, IN · Public	$15,158	$41,457	9.4 yrs
34	University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Eau Claire, WI · Public	$14,737	$40,981	9.9 yrs
35	Gonzaga University Spokane, WA · Private	$26,473	$45,618	10 yrs
36	East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg, PA · Public	$20,726	$43,240	10.1 yrs
37	Black Hills State University Spearfish, SD · Public	$16,947	$41,725	10.1 yrs
38	Augsburg University Minneapolis, MN · Private	$23,244	$44,170	10.1 yrs
39	La Salle University Philadelphia, PA · Private	$20,975	$43,240	10.2 yrs
40	Georgia Gwinnett College Lawrenceville, GA · Public	$14,869	$40,821	10.2 yrs
41	University of Wisconsin-Stout Menomonie, WI · Public	$15,247	$40,896	10.3 yrs
42	York College of Pennsylvania York, PA · Private	$20,717	$42,905	10.5 yrs
43	Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania Bloomsburg, PA · Public	$18,004	$41,789	10.6 yrs
44	Fitchburg State University Fitchburg, MA · Public	$16,389	$41,087	10.8 yrs
45	Carroll University Waukesha, WI · Private	$22,237	$43,128	10.9 yrs
46	Minot State University Minot, ND · Public	$11,911	$39,369	10.9 yrs
47	Lebanon Valley College Annville, PA · Private	$24,182	$43,798	11 yrs
48	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Whitewater, WI · Public	$14,226	$40,117	11.1 yrs
49	University of Georgia Athens, GA · Public	$15,037	$40,394	11.2 yrs
50	Providence College Providence, RI · Private	$26,014	$44,170	11.3 yrs

Top Earners in Special Education and Teaching

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

Explore best value colleges across all majors and categories.

Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.