Best Special Education Teacher, Preschool programs in Colorado, ranked by enrollment
Teach academic, social, and life skills to preschool-aged students with learning, emotional, or physical disabilities.
9 schools in Colorado run programs that feed this job, graduating 254 people a year. The job pays a median of $78,040 in Colorado across about 810 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Colorado that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in Colorado that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Colorado (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Colorado page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Special Education and Teaching, Generalmain feeder CIP 13.1001In Colorado → | 214 | 84.3% | 8 | $44,139 | $26,675 |
| 2 | CIP 13.1015In Colorado → | 37 | 14.6% | 1 | $44,139 | $26,675 |
| 3 | CIP 13.1013In Colorado → | 3 | 1.2% | 1 | $44,139 | $26,675 |
Top 9 schools in Colorado
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 9 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Northern Colorado Greeley, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 115 | Special Education and Teaching, General | $44,009 | 51% | — | 86% |
| 2 | University of Denver Denver, CO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 37 | Education/Teaching of Individuals in Early Childhood Special Education Programs | — | 76% | $29,726 | 78% |
| 3 | University of Colorado Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Special Education and Teaching, General | — | 47% | — | 97% |
| 4 | University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Special Education and Teaching, General | — | 46% | — | 75% |
| 5 | Colorado Christian University Lakewood, CO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Special Education and Teaching, General | $40,033 | 64% | $23,447 | — |
| 6 | Western Colorado University Gunnison, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Special Education and Teaching, General | — | 50% | — | 100% |
| 7 | Fort Lewis College Durango, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Special Education and Teaching, General | — | 36% | — | 77% |
| 8 | Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 6 | Special Education and Teaching, General | $39,638 | 32% | — | 99% |
| 9 | Regis University Denver, CO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Special Education and Teaching, General | — | 61% | $22,407 | 86% |
All 9 schools in Colorado
Every school in Colorado with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Northern Colorado | Greeley | Public | 115 | 1 |
| University of Denver | Denver | Private not-for-profit | 37 | 1 |
| University of Colorado Colorado Springs | Colorado Springs | Public | 30 | 1 |
| University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus | Denver | Public | 27 | 1 |
| Colorado Christian University | Lakewood | Private not-for-profit | 19 | 1 |
| Western Colorado University | Gunnison | Public | 9 | 1 |
| Fort Lewis College | Durango | Public | 7 | 1 |
| Metropolitan State University of Denver | Denver | Public | 6 | 2 |
| Regis University | Denver | Private not-for-profit | 4 | 1 |
What special education teachers, preschool earn in Colorado
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $64,830. Colorado pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: Colorado employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Colorado
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Special Education Teachers, Preschool page.
How to become a Special Education Teacher, Preschool
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Colorado
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 13 majors mapped to Special Education Teachers, Preschool13 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.1001Special Education and Teaching, General
- 13.1003Education/Teaching of Individuals with Hearing Impairments Including Deafness
- 13.1005Education/Teaching of Individuals with Emotional Disturbances
- 13.1006Education/Teaching of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities
- 13.1007Education/Teaching of Individuals with Multiple Disabilities
- 13.1008Education/Teaching of Individuals with Orthopedic and Other Physical Health Impairments
- 13.1009Education/Teaching of Individuals with Vision Impairments Including Blindness
- 13.1011Education/Teaching of Individuals with Specific Learning Disabilities
- 13.1012Education/Teaching of Individuals with Speech or Language Impairments
- 13.1013Education/Teaching of Individuals with Autism
- 13.1014Education/Teaching of Individuals Who are Developmentally Delayed
- 13.1015Education/Teaching of Individuals in Early Childhood Special Education Programs
- 13.1016Education/Teaching of Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injuries
Common questions
Answers for people weighing special education teachers, preschool programs in Colorado.
What degree do you need to become a Special Education Teacher, Preschool?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Special Education and Teaching, General, which awarded 214 degrees in Colorado in 2024-25, 84.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Special Education Teacher, Preschool?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Special Education and Teaching. Together they graduate about 254 people a year in Colorado.
How much do special education teachers, preschool earn in Colorado?+
The median is $78,040 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 20.4% above the U.S. median of $64,830. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for special education teachers, preschool growing?+
BLS projects a +1.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 2,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Colorado?+
9 institutions in Colorado reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do special education teachers, preschool work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Teacher, Resource Teacher, Special Education Teacher, Early Childhood Special Education Teacher (ECSE Teacher) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-2051.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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