University of Nebraska at Kearney Teacher Education (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods
- Public university
- Kearney, NE
- About 124 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
University of Nebraska at Kearney teacher education graduates earn about what teacher education graduates earn nationally, $38,853 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $23,363 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,075. Several Nebraska programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Nebraska and national columns are the medians across all teacher education bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, University of Nebraska at Kearney graduates earn less than the national figure and about $1,615 less than the Nebraska median. Several Nebraska programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every Nebraska teacher education program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Nebraska 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 16% 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 $1,865 less in their first year than other graduates. 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 $248 a month, or 7.7% 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, 40 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $12,724.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
86% of graduates (110 of 128) were working in Nebraska one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of Nebraska outside metro areas are about 14% below the national average, so a $38,853 salary here buys what about $45,008 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
$62,380Median pay in Nebraska. 8,710 people work in this job in Nebraska. 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
$63,450Median pay in Nebraska. 7,170 people work in this job in Nebraska. 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
$62,510Median pay in Nebraska. 4,150 people work in this job in Nebraska. 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
$47,040Median pay in Nebraska. 1,630 people work in this job in Nebraska. 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 University of Nebraska at Kearney
Teacher Education ranks 9th of 17 bachelor's programs at University of Nebraska at Kearney by first-year earnings. The top three are Agricultural Business ($61,152), Computer and Information Science ($60,771), and Business Administration ($48,861).
Other teacher education bachelor's programs near Kearney
Common questions
The median graduate earns $38,853 one year after graduating and $44,982 five years after. The median across teacher education bachelor's programs in Nebraska is $41,322.
The median federal loan balance is $23,363, which ranks 4th lowest of 9 teacher education bachelor's programs in Nebraska. That works out to about $248 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 60% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 61%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 10% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Nebraska programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 86% (110 of 128) were working in Nebraska 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 Nebraska 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