GCU Teacher Education (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods
- Private nonprofit university
- Phoenix, AZ
- About 1,069 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
GCU teacher education graduates earn about what teacher education graduates earn nationally, $40,682 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $36,334 in federal loans, more than at 97% of teacher education programs in the country. Several Arizona programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Arizona and national columns are the medians across all teacher education bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, GCU graduates earn less than the national figure and about $3,143 less than the Arizona median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Arizona teacher education program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Arizona 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 10% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $4,445 less in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed more. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $385 a month, or 11.4% 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. Separately, 179 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $9,034.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
25% of graduates (304 of 1,230) were working in Arizona one year after graduating. Prices in the Phoenix area are about 3% above the national average, so a $40,682 salary here buys what about $39,376 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
$56,590Median pay in Arizona. 24,240 people work in this job in Arizona. 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
$58,360Median pay in Arizona. 21,190 people work in this job in Arizona. 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
$59,710Median pay in Arizona. 9,020 people work in this job in Arizona. 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
$36,300Median pay in Arizona. 9,400 people work in this job in Arizona. 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 GCU
Teacher Education ranks 18th of 38 bachelor's programs at GCU by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($92,781), Electrical Engineering ($74,628), and Homeland Security ($68,503).
Other teacher education bachelor's programs near Phoenix
Common questions
The median graduate earns $40,682 one year after graduating and $44,724 five years after. The median across teacher education bachelor's programs in Arizona is $41,281.
The median federal loan balance is $36,334, which ranks 5th lowest of 7 teacher education bachelor's programs in Arizona. That works out to about $385 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 89% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 61%. Compare the cost with other Arizona programs before deciding.
Many leave. 25% (304 of 1,230) were working in Arizona 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 Arizona 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