Northern Michigan University Teacher Education (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods
- Public university
- Marquette, MI
- About 42 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Northern Michigan University teacher education graduates earn about what teacher education graduates earn nationally, $39,963 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $30,750 in federal loans, more than at 92% of teacher education programs in the country. Several Michigan programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Michigan and national columns are the medians across all teacher education bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Northern Michigan University graduates earn less than the national figure and about $3,695 less than the Michigan median. Several Michigan programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan teacher education program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Michigan 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 7% 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 $326 a month, or 9.8% 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
Prices in the parts of Michigan outside metro areas are about 11% below the national average, so a $39,963 salary here buys what about $44,916 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
$65,110Median pay in Michigan. 40,910 people work in this job in Michigan. 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
$66,030Median pay in Michigan. 25,540 people work in this job in Michigan. 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
$63,790Median pay in Michigan. 15,420 people work in this job in Michigan. 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
$37,110Median pay in Michigan. 10,950 people work in this job in Michigan. 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 Northern Michigan University
Teacher Education ranks 9th of 26 bachelor's programs at Northern Michigan University by first-year earnings. The top three are Construction Management ($75,226), Nursing ($68,846), and Finance ($57,281).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $39,963 one year after graduating and $42,759 five years after. The median across teacher education bachelor's programs in Michigan is $43,151.
The median federal loan balance is $30,750, which ranks 12th lowest of 17 teacher education bachelor's programs in Michigan. That works out to about $326 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 77% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 61%. Compare the cost with other Michigan programs before deciding.
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 Michigan 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