McNeese State Teacher Education (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods
- Public university
- Lake Charles, LA
- About 24 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
McNeese State teacher education graduates earn about what teacher education graduates earn nationally, $44,225 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $22,500 in federal loans, less than at 79% of teacher education programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying teacher education degrees in Louisiana.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Louisiana and national columns are the medians across all teacher education bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, McNeese State graduates earn about the national figure and about the same as the Louisiana median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Louisiana teacher education program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Louisiana 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 3% 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 about the same in their first year as other graduates, but borrowed more: a median of $27,125 against $19,625.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $239 a month, or 6.5% 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
98% of graduates (62 of 63) were working in Louisiana one year after graduating. Prices in the Lake Charles area are about 14% below the national average, so a $44,225 salary here buys what about $51,513 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
$58,770Median pay in Louisiana. 22,060 people work in this job in Louisiana. 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
$59,850Median pay in Louisiana. 15,210 people work in this job in Louisiana. 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
$58,760Median pay in Louisiana. 5,560 people work in this job in Louisiana. 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
$38,020Median pay in Louisiana. 3,570 people work in this job in Louisiana. 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 McNeese State
Teacher Education ranks 7th of 17 bachelor's programs at McNeese State by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($77,239), Engineering ($75,566), and Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($57,964).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $44,225 one year after graduating and $45,505 five years after. The median across teacher education bachelor's programs in Louisiana is $45,957.
The median federal loan balance is $22,500, which ranks 2nd lowest of 10 teacher education bachelor's programs in Louisiana. That works out to about $239 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 51% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 61%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Louisiana programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 98% (62 of 63) were working in Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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