Which California subject-area teacher education program has the lowest debt?

Cal State Fullerton reports the lowest median federal debt, $15,000, with first-year pay of $33,493.

How much do subject-area teacher education graduates earn in California?

The median across 6 California subject-area teacher education bachelor's programs is $30,555 in the first year after graduating and $63,425 five years after.

How many subject-area teacher education bachelor's programs are in California?

6 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

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

6 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 California subject-area teacher education bachelor's program pays its graduates $30,555 in their first year, $12,688 less than the national median. UC Irvine reports the highest first-year pay ($56,003), and Cal State Fullerton the lowest median debt ($15,000).

Median first-year pay$30,555National $43,242

Median pay after 5 years$63,425National $50,239

Median federal debt$21,875National $26,269

Debt-to-earnings55%National 60%

All 6 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.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$56,003	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
2	Cal Poly PomonaPomona · public	$40,884	$63,425	$21,250	52%
3	Cal State FullertonFullerton · public	$33,493	$73,048	$15,000	45%
4	University of La VerneLa Verne · private nonprofit	$27,616	$52,345	$23,533	85%
5	Fresno StateFresno · public	$27,211	$59,795	$15,000	55%
6	Chico StateChico · public	$24,427	Not reported	$21,429	88%

UC Irvine reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. 4 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

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

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

UC Irvine$56,003
Cal Poly Pomona$40,884
Cal State Fullerton$33,493
University of La Verne$27,616
Fresno State$27,211

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"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

$99,650

Median pay in California. 155,160 people work in this job in California. 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%: $61,940Top 10%: $127,070

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$101,370

Median pay in California. 99,230 people work in this job in California. 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%: $64,600Top 10%: $132,600

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$98,950

Median pay in California. 37,300 people work in this job in California. 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%: $62,410Top 10%: $129,500

Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors

$57,990

Median pay in California. 43,600 people work in this job in California. 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%: $36,750Top 10%: $100,920

Common questions

UC Irvine in Irvine reports the highest median first-year pay, $56,003.

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 California 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

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024