USF Teacher Education (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods
- Public university
- Tampa, FL
- About 142 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
USF teacher education graduates earn more than graduates of most teacher education programs nationally, $50,442 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $20,995 in federal loans, less than at 85% of teacher education programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying teacher education degrees in Florida.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Florida and national columns are the medians across all teacher education bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, USF graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Florida median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Florida teacher education program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Florida 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 falls about 1% 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. They also borrowed less. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $223 a month, or 5.3% 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. Separately, 39 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $16,334.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
93% of graduates (272 of 292) were working in Florida one year after graduating. Prices in the Tampa area are about 1% above the national average, so a $50,442 salary here buys what about $49,997 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
$58,930Median pay in Florida. 79,090 people work in this job in Florida. 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
$60,410Median pay in Florida. 49,810 people work in this job in Florida. 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
$58,940Median pay in Florida. 31,370 people work in this job in Florida. 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
$35,860Median pay in Florida. 35,740 people work in this job in Florida. 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 USF
Teacher Education ranks 12th of 54 bachelor's programs at USF by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Engineering ($83,660), Electrical Engineering ($78,825), and Nursing ($72,879).
Other teacher education bachelor's programs near Tampa
Common questions
The median graduate earns $50,442 one year after graduating and $49,950 five years after. The median across teacher education bachelor's programs in Florida is $46,329.
The median federal loan balance is $20,995, which ranks 13th lowest of 25 teacher education bachelor's programs in Florida. That works out to about $223 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 42% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 61%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 5% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Florida programs report higher pay.
Most do. 93% (272 of 292) were working in Florida 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 Florida 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