University of South Carolina Beaufort
- 1 University Boulevard Bluffton, SC 29909
- (843) 208-8000
- Visit website
- Retention rate: 61%
- Programs offered: 10
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
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Hilton Head Island, South Carolina has 3 accredited schools offering special education programs. Hilton Head Island has a population of about 37,805. Median household income is $96,715 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 55.3% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC metro area, the top-earning special education-related role is Special Education Teacher, Kindergarten and Elementary School at a median $66,500 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer special education programs near Hilton Head Island, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Hilton Head Island city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Hilton Head Island. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all South Carolina schools on the South Carolina special education page.
Hilton Head Island is part of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC metro area (BLS area code 25940). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to South Carolina statewide.
| Occupation | Median Wage | Source | COL-Adjusted (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Special Education Teacher, Kindergarten and Elementary School | $66,500 | Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC | $67,857 |
| Special Education Teacher, Middle School | $63,370 | Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC | $64,663 |
| Special Education Teacher, Secondary School | $66,260 | Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC | $67,612 |
| Special Education Teacher, Preschool | $59,800 | SC statewide | $61,020 |
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 37,805 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003) |
| Median household income | $96,715 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013) |
| Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+ | 55.3% | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003) |
| Regional Price Parity (US=100) | 98.0 (below U.S. average) | BEA RPP 2024 |
Our directory has 3 accredited schools offering special education programs near Hilton Head Island. The closest is Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA (62.6 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is South Carolina State University (90.6 miles). 3 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying special education-related roles near Hilton Head Island are: Special Education Teacher, Kindergarten and Elementary School ($66,500), Special Education Teacher, Secondary School ($66,260), Special Education Teacher, Middle School ($63,370). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with South Carolina statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Beaufort, SC is 18.1 miles from Hilton Head Island and has its own set of local special education programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
Hilton Head Island’s median household income of $96,715 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Hilton Head Island while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and South Carolina public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Hilton Head Island:
Data verified: July 30, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024โ2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
Back to Best Online Special Education Programs in South Carolina (2026)