US College Programs

Subject-Area Teacher Education (Bachelor's) Programs in Alabama, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

  • 5 programs report first-year pay
  • 5 also report federal debt
  • Bachelor's in Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Alabama subject-area teacher education bachelor's program pays its graduates $32,093 in their first year, $11,149 less than the national median. Auburn University reports the highest first-year pay ($44,897), and Auburn University the lowest median debt ($23,600).

Median first-year pay$32,093National $43,242
Median pay after 5 years$50,110National $50,239
Median federal debt$25,058National $26,269
Debt-to-earnings77%National 60%

All 5 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Alabama subject-area teacher education program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Alabama medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

  1. Auburn University$44,897
  2. Athens State$42,403
  3. UAB$32,093
  4. University of Alabama$28,391
  5. University of South Alabama$26,888

Lowest median debt

  1. Auburn University$23,600
  2. UAB$24,573
  3. University of Alabama$25,000
  4. Athens State$25,116
  5. University of South Alabama$27,000

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. Auburn University53%
  2. Athens State59%
  3. UAB77%
  4. University of Alabama88%
  5. University of South Alabama100%

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$61,380

Median pay in Alabama. 22,030 people work in this job in Alabama. 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.

Bottom 10%: $47,750Top 10%: $73,950

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$61,990

Median pay in Alabama. 15,880 people work in this job in Alabama. 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.

Bottom 10%: $48,190Top 10%: $76,300

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$61,770

Median pay in Alabama. 10,000 people work in this job in Alabama. 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.

Bottom 10%: $48,320Top 10%: $74,090

Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors

$39,180

Median pay in Alabama. 2,680 people work in this job in Alabama. 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.

Bottom 10%: $19,330Top 10%: $57,320

Common questions

Auburn University in Auburn reports the highest median first-year pay, $44,897. Its median federal debt is $23,600.

Related pages

Subject-Area Teacher Education (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked341 programs by pay and debt

About this data

  • Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
  • 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 Alabama rankings when their main campus is in another state.
  • Medians are across the subject-area teacher education bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024