UW-Madison Subject-Area Teacher Education (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas
- Public university
- Madison, WI
- About 27 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
UW-Madison subject-area teacher education graduates earn about what subject-area teacher education graduates earn nationally, $45,966 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,269. Several Wisconsin programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Wisconsin and national columns are the medians across all subject-area teacher education bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, UW-Madison graduates earn less than the national figure and about $2,955 less than the Wisconsin median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Wisconsin subject-area teacher education program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Wisconsin 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 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.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $286 a month, or 7.5% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
85% of graduates (17 of 20) were working in Wisconsin one year after graduating. Prices in the Madison area are about 3% below the national average, so a $45,966 salary here buys what about $47,248 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
$61,210Median pay in Wisconsin. 24,920 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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
$62,870Median pay in Wisconsin. 15,910 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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
$61,960Median pay in Wisconsin. 14,460 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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
$44,200Median pay in Wisconsin. 6,330 people work in this job in Wisconsin. 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 UW-Madison
Subject-Area Teacher Education ranks 31st of 64 bachelor's programs at UW-Madison by first-year earnings. The top three are Chemical Engineering ($85,945), Management Science ($83,260), and Electrical Engineering ($82,018).
Other subject-area teacher education bachelor's programs near Madison
Common questions
The median graduate earns $45,966 one year after graduating and $46,338 five years after. The median across subject-area teacher education bachelor's programs in Wisconsin is $43,829.
The median federal loan balance is $27,000, which ranks 7th lowest of 13 subject-area teacher education bachelor's programs in Wisconsin. That works out to about $286 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 59% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 60%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Wisconsin programs report higher pay.
Most do. 85% (17 of 20) were working in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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