New Mexico·Educational Instruction and Library Occupations·SOC 25-2059

Best Special Education Teacher, All Other programs in New Mexico, ranked by enrollment

All special education teachers not listed.

9 schools in New Mexico run programs that feed this job, graduating 245 people a year. The job pays a median of $86,520 in New Mexico across about 100 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledAdapted Physical EducatorAdapted Physical Education Specialist (APE Specialist)Adapted Physical Education Teacher (Adapted PE Teacher)DAPE Specialist (Developmental Adapted Physical Education Specialist)Autism TutorAutism Motor SpecialistAdaptive Skills EducatorSpecial Education Teacher
Graduates / yr
245
in New Mexico
Median pay · New Mexico
$86,520
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
100
people employed
Schools
9
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
35%
across those schools
Median net price
$20,882
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in New Mexico that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

2 programs in New Mexico that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in New Mexico (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 New Mexico page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1237
96.7%
9$44,139$26,675
28
3.3%
1$44,139$26,675

Top 9 schools in New Mexico

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 9 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Eastern New Mexico University - Main Campus
Portales, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
56Special Education and Teaching, General45%92%
2New Mexico State University - Main Campus
Las Cruces, NM Public · 2 feeder programs
41Special Education and Teaching, General$31,96355%89%
3Central New Mexico Community College
Albuquerque, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
34Special Education and Teaching, General31%
4University of New Mexico - Main Campus
Albuquerque, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
31Special Education and Teaching, General$41,94755%95%
5New Mexico Highlands University
Las Vegas, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
24Special Education and Teaching, General26%
6Western New Mexico University
Silver City, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
20Special Education and Teaching, General32%
7Santa Fe Community College
Santa Fe, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
15Special Education and Teaching, General$43,74223%
8Northern New Mexico College
Espanola, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
13Special Education and Teaching, General29%
9University of the Southwest
Hobbs, NM Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
11Special Education and Teaching, General17%$20,882

All 9 schools in New Mexico

Every school in New Mexico 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.

All schools in New Mexico that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Eastern New Mexico University - Main CampusPortalesPublic561
New Mexico State University - Main CampusLas CrucesPublic412
Central New Mexico Community CollegeAlbuquerquePublic341
University of New Mexico - Main CampusAlbuquerquePublic311
New Mexico Highlands UniversityLas VegasPublic241
Western New Mexico UniversitySilver CityPublic201
Santa Fe Community CollegeSanta FePublic151
Northern New Mexico CollegeEspanolaPublic131
University of the SouthwestHobbsPrivate not-for-profit111

What special education teachers, all other earn in New Mexico

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in New Mexico
$86,520
Mean annual
$94,040
Jobs in state
100
What the range looks like
10th pct$79,710Median$86,52090th pct$107,250
Versus the national median
+13.0%

U.S. median $76,580. New Mexico pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.51×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+1.1%
Little or no change
Openings per year
2,900
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
400
41,000 → 41,500
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

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, All Other page.

How to become a Special Education Teacher, All Other

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

Active ListeningActive LearningSpeakingMonitoringReading ComprehensionWriting

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in New Mexico

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 13 majors mapped to Special Education Teachers, All Other13 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
  • 13.1016Education/Teaching of Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injuries
  • 13.1099Special Education and Teaching, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing special education teachers, all other programs in New Mexico.

What degree do you need to become a Special Education Teacher, All Other?+

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 237 degrees in New Mexico in 2024-25, 96.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Special Education Teacher, All Other?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Special Education and Teaching. Together they graduate about 245 people a year in New Mexico.

How much do special education teachers, all other earn in New Mexico?+

The median is $86,520 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 13.0% above the U.S. median of $76,580. 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, all other growing?+

BLS projects a +1.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 2,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in New Mexico?+

9 institutions in New Mexico reported graduates from at least one of the 2 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, all other work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Adapted Physical Educator, Adapted Physical Education Specialist (APE Specialist), Adapted Physical Education Teacher (Adapted PE Teacher), DAPE Specialist (Developmental Adapted Physical Education Specialist) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-2059.

Special Education Teachers, All Other in other statesArizonaIndianaNew YorkUtahCaliforniaPennsylvaniaTexasFlorida

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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, 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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