Special Education and Teaching at Marywood University

Special education programs in Pennsylvania cluster tightly around $48,000-$52,000 in first-year earnings, and Marywood's estimated outcomes sit squarely in this range. With estimated earnings of $48,649 and debt around $27,000, comparable programs suggest a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.55—manageable territory for education majors, though not exceptional. The state's stronger-performing programs at York College and several Pennsylvania state universities push closer to $52,000, a difference of roughly $3,500 annually that compounds over a career.

The challenge is that these estimates come from peer institutions rather than Marywood's own graduates, so you're betting on a school with an 84% admission rate and modest standardized test scores to deliver outcomes matching Pennsylvania's median. Special education offers the advantage of clear career pathways and relatively stable public school employment, which helps justify the debt load. But at private-school tuition rates, you'd want confidence that outcomes will match or exceed those state benchmarks—and without Marywood's actual data, that's hard to verify.

If your child is committed to special education and Marywood specifically, the estimated numbers aren't alarming. But Pennsylvania's public universities offer similar programs with reported outcomes in the low $50,000s, often at lower cost. Before committing to Marywood's price tag, ask the school directly about job placement rates and whether their graduates' actual starting salaries align with the state median used in these estimates.