Mercer University Teacher Education (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods
- Private nonprofit university
- Macon, GA
- About 59 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Mercer University teacher education graduates earn about what teacher education graduates earn nationally, $39,715 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $47,750 in federal loans, more than at more than 99% of teacher education programs in the country. Several Georgia programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Georgia and national columns are the medians across all teacher education bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Mercer University graduates earn more than the national figure and about $1,867 more than the Georgia median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Georgia teacher education program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Georgia 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 26% 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 $9,093 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 $506 a month, or 15.3% 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 (100 of 102) were working in Georgia one year after graduating. Prices in the Macon area are about 11% below the national average, so a $39,715 salary here buys what about $44,862 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
$72,290Median pay in Georgia. 43,820 people work in this job in Georgia. 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
$75,480Median pay in Georgia. 25,730 people work in this job in Georgia. 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
$64,780Median pay in Georgia. 23,610 people work in this job in Georgia. 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
$43,920Median pay in Georgia. 16,850 people work in this job in Georgia. 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 Mercer University
Teacher Education ranks 8th of 16 bachelor's programs at Mercer University by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($76,787), Engineering ($72,403), and Social Sciences ($61,612).
Other teacher education bachelor's programs near Macon
Common questions
The median graduate earns $39,715 one year after graduating and $50,213 five years after. The median across teacher education bachelor's programs in Georgia is $41,634.
The median federal loan balance is $47,750, which ranks 23rd lowest of 23 teacher education bachelor's programs in Georgia. That works out to about $506 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 120% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 61%. Compare the cost with other Georgia programs before deciding.
Most do. 98% (100 of 102) were working in Georgia 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 Georgia 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