Columbia College (South Carolina) Teacher Education (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods
- Private nonprofit college
- Columbia, SC
- About 14 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Columbia College (South Carolina) teacher education graduates earn about what teacher education graduates earn nationally, $39,489 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $28,000 in federal loans, more than at 85% of teacher education programs in the country. Several South Carolina programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The South Carolina and national columns are the medians across all teacher education bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Columbia College (South Carolina) graduates earn less than the national figure and about the same as the South Carolina median.
Debt and first-year pay at every South Carolina teacher education program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the South Carolina medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 5% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $297 a month, or 9.0% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
96% of graduates (24 of 25) were working in South Carolina one year after graduating. Prices in the Columbia area are about 6% below the national average, so a $39,489 salary here buys what about $42,161 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to teacher education, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
$60,820Median pay in South Carolina. 25,030 people work in this job in South Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 87,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$62,580Median pay in South Carolina. 16,080 people work in this job in South Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$60,810Median pay in South Carolina. 9,750 people work in this job in South Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 38,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
$34,500Median pay in South Carolina. 4,550 people work in this job in South Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 66,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.
About Columbia College (South Carolina)
Teacher Education ranks 4th of 4 bachelor's programs at Columbia College (South Carolina) by first-year earnings. The top three are Homeland Security ($67,338), Criminal Justice ($50,519), and Business Administration ($42,514).
Other teacher education bachelor's programs near Columbia
Common questions
The median graduate earns $39,489 one year after graduating and $41,415 five years after. The median across teacher education bachelor's programs in South Carolina is $40,233.
The median federal loan balance is $28,000, which ranks 17th lowest of 18 teacher education bachelor's programs in South Carolina. That works out to about $297 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 71% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 61%. Compare the cost with other South Carolina programs before deciding.
Most do. 96% (24 of 25) were working in South Carolina one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of South Carolina comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the teacher education program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024