Special Education and Teaching at College of Saint Mary

Based on comparable special education programs nationally, this degree comes with an estimated $27,000 in debt against first-year earnings around $44,000—a manageable 0.61 debt-to-earnings ratio that suggests the program won't burden graduates with overwhelming payments. That debt level sits right at the state median for Nebraska's special education programs, while the earnings estimate matches the national median exactly. For a field where financial outcomes tend to be stable and predictable, these peer-program figures point to a solid starting point.

The challenge is that we're working with limited actual data for College of Saint Mary specifically, making it harder to judge how this program performs against its in-state competition. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's graduates earn around $47,000 in their first year—about $3,000 more than what similar programs typically produce—while UNO sits below the estimate at $38,000. Special education teachers in Nebraska face a consistent salary structure, so the variation likely reflects factors like geographic placement and credentials rather than dramatic quality differences.

For parents evaluating this investment, the estimated debt burden appears reasonable for a teaching career, but the lack of program-specific data means you're betting on College of Saint Mary matching the performance of its peer institutions. If your child is committed to special education and values the college's smaller environment (44% admission rate, 37% Pell-eligible students), the financial picture from comparable programs suggests a workable path—just know you're extrapolating from broader trends rather than this school's proven track record.