Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Subject-Area Teacher Education (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas
- Public university
- Carbondale, IL
- About 102 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale subject-area teacher education graduates earn more than graduates of most subject-area teacher education programs nationally, $54,215 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $21,182 in federal loans, less than at 87% of subject-area teacher education programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying subject-area teacher education degrees in Illinois.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Illinois and national columns are the medians across all subject-area teacher education bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale graduates earn more than the national figure and about $10,944 more than the Illinois median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois subject-area teacher education program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Illinois 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 17% 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 $24,000 against $12,500.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $225 a month, or 5.0% 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
37% of graduates (49 of 134) were working in Illinois one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of Illinois outside metro areas are about 13% below the national average, so a $54,215 salary here buys what about $62,017 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 subject-area teacher education, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
$75,320Median pay in Illinois. 61,520 people work in this job in Illinois. 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
$79,990Median pay in Illinois. 44,670 people work in this job in Illinois. 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
$76,110Median pay in Illinois. 24,770 people work in this job in Illinois. 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.
Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors
$46,800Median pay in Illinois. 19,830 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 68,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
About Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
Subject-Area Teacher Education ranks 13th of 49 bachelor's programs at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale by first-year earnings. The top three are Fire Science ($104,017), Industrial Technology ($73,283), and Electrical Engineering Technology ($72,495).
Other subject-area teacher education bachelor's programs near Carbondale
Common questions
The median graduate earns $54,215 one year after graduating and $63,679 five years after. The median across subject-area teacher education bachelor's programs in Illinois is $44,601.
The median federal loan balance is $21,182, which ranks 2nd lowest of 19 subject-area teacher education bachelor's programs in Illinois. That works out to about $225 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 39% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 60%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 20% or less.
Many leave. 37% (49 of 134) were working in Illinois 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 Illinois 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 subject-area 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