SRU’s online master’s degree in special education earns top 25 ranking

Oct. 4, 2017

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Slippery Rock University's online master's degree in special education has been ranked among the top 25 programs in the country by thebestcolleges.org.

To determine their rankings, thebestcolleges.org looked at the what it determined as "the most important factors for prospective students," including common predictors of future success and a school's commitment to online programs.

"This boils down to admissions rate, student loan default rate, retention rate, graduation rate and the percent of students enrolled in online classes," said Allison Blake of thebestcolleges.org. "All data points are taken from information provided by colleges and universities to the National Center for Education Statistics."

Each factor is weighted evenly in order to give an objective view and determine the best online master's in special education programs. To calculate the rankings, thebestcolleges.org looked at a school's ranking when organized by a single factor and then averaged each category's ranking to find an overall score:

-Admissions rate (20 percent)
-Default rate (20 percent)
-Retention rate (20 percent)
-Graduation rate (20 percent)
-Percent of students enrolled in online classes (20 percent)

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of special education professionals is expected to grow by 6 percent between 2014 and 2024.

SRU offers a quartet of special education concentrations, including: autism, birth to grade 8, grade 7-12 and school supervision.

MEDIA CONTACT: Robb King | 724.738.2199 | robb.king@sru.edu