Degree to Occupation Map
Occupations related to a special education degree
NCES and BLS publish a crosswalk relating instructional programs to occupations. This page lists every occupation that crosswalk relates to special education, with the BLS typical entry education, 2025 median wage and projected growth for each, and links to the RoleSprint page covering the role where one exists.
What occupations does the official crosswalk relate to a special education degree?
The CIP 2020-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk published by NCES and BLS relates 18 CIP 2020 programs in special education to 8 occupations. That maps a field of study to lines of work; it is not a statement that a special education degree qualifies someone for any of them, and the crosswalk carries no figure for how many graduates enter each. Across the 6 with a published 2025 BLS wage the median is $70,535, ranging from $60,170 for Interpreters and Translators to $76,580 for Adapted Physical Education Specialists. BLS typical entry-level education splits 5 at bachelor's degree, 1 at doctoral or professional degree: 5 at or below a bachelor's degree and 1 above it. Education Teachers, Postsecondary is projected to grow fastest at +2.5% over 2025-35. The highest-paid are Adapted Physical Education Specialists ($76,580), Education Teachers, Postsecondary ($75,350) and Special Education Teachers, Secondary School ($74,260).
- Related occupations
- 8, from 18 CIP 2020 programs in special education (a further 2 related occupations have no BLS or O*NET row on this site and are not listed)
- What the mapping means
- NCES states only that it "crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes". It relates a program to an occupation. It does not establish qualification, hiring, or how many graduates take that path.
- BLS typical entry-level education
- Bachelor's degree: 5; Doctoral or professional degree: 1
- Median wage across these occupations
- $70,535 (2025); 6 of 8 have a published BLS wage
- Next step
- 1 of the 8 occupations have a dedicated RoleSprint page covering what the role requires and how the work is performed.
Source and method
2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics, and BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Verified 2026-09-06. Program-to-occupation relationships are reproduced from the NCES/BLS crosswalk exactly as published; RoleSprint groups CIP programs into the field of study a person would search for and lists the union of their related occupations, showing every member CIP code. Wage, typical entry education and outlook are reproduced from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 for the matching SOC code. Working-condition figures are O*NET 30.3 means. No relationship strength, employment share or qualification judgement is published, because no source supplies one.
What this list is, and what it is not
The crosswalk's own description of itself is one sentence: “This file crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes in ascending order by CIP Code.” It relates a field of study to lines of work.
It does not say a special education degree qualifies anyone for these occupations, that graduates usually enter them, or what share do: the crosswalk publishes no such figure. The wage and education columns come from a separate source, BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, and describe the occupation rather than the degree. Typical entry education is what BLS observes most often among people already doing the work; it is not a rule about who may be hired.
The 8 related occupations
Ordered by BLS median wage, highest first. 6 of 8 have a published wage.
| Occupation | BLS typical entry-level education | Median wage | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
Adapted Physical Education Specialists SOC 25-2059 Contact with others 4.4 · Time pressure 3.4 · Sitting 1.9 · Outdoors, all weather 3.1 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $76,580 2025 median | +1.9% 2025-35 · 2.3 openings/yr |
Education Teachers, Postsecondary SOC 25-1081 Contact with others 4.5 · Time pressure 3.5 · Sitting 4.0 · Outdoors, all weather 1.1 of 5 | Doctoral or professional degree Above bachelor's | $75,350 2025 median | +2.5% 2025-35 · 5.3 openings/yr |
Special Education Teachers, Secondary School SOC 25-2058 Contact with others 5.0 · Time pressure 3.8 · Sitting 3.2 · Outdoors, all weather 1.9 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $74,260 2025 median | -0.2% 2025-35 · 10.4 openings/yr |
Special Education Teachers, Middle School SOC 25-2057 Contact with others 4.1 · Time pressure 3.9 · Sitting 2.5 · Outdoors, all weather 2.2 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $66,810 2025 median | -0.4% 2025-35 · 6 openings/yr |
Special Education Teachers, Preschool SOC 25-2051 Contact with others 5.0 · Time pressure 3.1 · Sitting 2.8 · Outdoors, all weather 2.8 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $64,830 2025 median | +2.4% 2025-35 · 2 openings/yr |
Interpreters and Translators SOC 27-3091 Contact with others 4.6 · Time pressure 4.0 · Sitting 3.6 · Outdoors, all weather 1.9 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $60,170 2025 median | +2% 2025-35 · 6 openings/yr |
Special Education Teachers, Elementary School SOC 25-2056 Contact with others 4.8 · Time pressure 3.5 · Sitting 2.6 · Outdoors, all weather 1.5 of 5 | Not published | Not published | Not published |
Teaching Assistants, Special Education SOC 25-9043 Contact with others 4.9 · Time pressure 3.1 · Sitting 2.5 · Outdoors, all weather 3.1 of 5 | Not published | Not published | Not published |
The crosswalk relates 2 further occupations to this field (25-2055, 99-9999) for which BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 publishes no line item on this site. They are counted here rather than listed, because there would be nothing to show beside the name.
BLS typical entry-level education for these occupations
5 of the 8 have a BLS typical entry-level education at or below a bachelor's degree; 1 are above it. "Typical" is BLS's word: it describes the workers already in the occupation.
- Bachelor's degree
- 5
- Doctoral or professional degree
- 1
This is BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2's description of the education most workers in each occupation typically hold when they enter it. It is not a list of requirements, and it says nothing about licences, certifications or experience, which BLS records separately and this page does not show.
Which programs this covers
“Special education” groups 18 CIP 2020 instructional programs. The occupation list above is the union of everything the crosswalk relates to them.
- 13.1001 Special Education and Teaching, General
- 13.1003 Education/Teaching of Individuals with Hearing Impairments Including Deafness
- 13.1004 Education/Teaching of the Gifted and Talented
- 13.1005 Education/Teaching of Individuals with Emotional Disturbances
- 13.1006 Education/Teaching of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities
- 13.1007 Education/Teaching of Individuals with Multiple Disabilities
- 13.1008 Education/Teaching of Individuals with Orthopedic and Other Physical Health Impairments
- 13.1009 Education/Teaching of Individuals with Vision Impairments Including Blindness
- 13.1011 Education/Teaching of Individuals with Specific Learning Disabilities
- 13.1012 Education/Teaching of Individuals with Speech or Language Impairments
- 13.1013 Education/Teaching of Individuals with Autism
- 13.1014 Education/Teaching of Individuals Who are Developmentally Delayed
- 13.1015 Education/Teaching of Individuals in Early Childhood Special Education Programs
- 13.1016 Education/Teaching of Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injuries
- 13.1017 Education/Teaching of Individuals in Elementary Special Education Programs
- 13.1018 Education/Teaching of Individuals in Junior High/Middle School Special Education Programs
- 13.1019 Education/Teaching of Individuals in Secondary Special Education Programs
- 13.1099 Special Education and Teaching, Other
Grouping is RoleSprint's, and it is printed here so it can be checked. CIP's own grain is finer than the phrase anyone searches; the alternative is one page per code, which would put near-identical lists in front of the same question. How this map is built.
Working out which of these is realistic
A related occupation is a starting point, not a verdict. Three different questions decide whether one is worth pursuing, and each has its own page.
Program-to-occupation relationships from the 2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wage, typical entry education and outlook from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Working-condition figures from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA and RoleSprint has modified some of this information.
What to do next
A crosswalk relates a field of study to lines of work. Whether one specific opening is worth your time depends on what you can actually show, which is a different question and the one RoleSprint answers.