Which Georgia teacher education program has the lowest debt?

College of Coastal Georgia reports the lowest median federal debt, $17,125, with first-year pay of $40,747.

How much do teacher education graduates earn in Georgia?

The median across 23 Georgia teacher education bachelor's programs is $41,634 in the first year after graduating and $48,347 five years after.

How many teacher education bachelor's programs are in Georgia?

23 Georgia programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 23 of them also report federal debt.

Teacher Education (Bachelor's) Programs in Georgia, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

23 programs report first-year pay
23 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Georgia teacher education bachelor's program pays its graduates $41,634 in their first year, $321 less than the national median. Georgia Gwinnett College reports the highest first-year pay ($48,203), and College of Coastal Georgia the lowest median debt ($17,125).

Median first-year pay$41,634National $41,955

Median pay after 5 years$48,347National $46,679

Median federal debt$26,500National $26,075

Debt-to-earnings60%National 61%

All 23 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	Georgia Gwinnett CollegeLawrenceville · public	$48,203	$49,927	$21,590	45%
2	Georgia CollegeMilledgeville · public	$47,513	$49,803	$26,000	55%
3	Georgia StateAtlanta · public	$46,903	$51,892	$26,750	57%
4	University of GeorgiaAthens · public	$46,162	$50,706	$18,229	39%
5	University of North GeorgiaDahlonega · public	$46,099	$47,345	$19,500	42%
6	Kennesaw StateKennesaw · public	$46,077	$49,356	$27,000	59%
7	Berry CollegeMount Berry · private nonprofit	$43,376	$48,970	$25,750	59%
8	Augusta UniversityAugusta · public	$42,419	$45,876	$29,579	70%
9	Columbus StateColumbus · public	$41,780	$43,723	$30,977	74%
10	University of West GeorgiaCarrollton · public	$41,744	$47,200	$25,217	60%
11	Piedmont UniversityDemorest · private nonprofit	$41,663	$46,086	$30,026	72%
12	Middle Georgia StateMacon · public	$41,634	$47,307	$23,125	56%
13	Brenau UniversityGainesville · private nonprofit	$40,980	Not reported	$38,250	93%
14	College of Coastal GeorgiaBrunswick · public	$40,747	$46,137	$17,125	42%
15	Gordon State CollegeBarnesville · public	$40,644	$47,288	$23,073	57%
16	Georgia Southern UniversityStatesboro · public	$40,641	$49,396	$26,750	66%
17	Dalton State CollegeDalton · public	$39,889	$42,302	$18,400	46%
18	Mercer UniversityMacon · private nonprofit	$39,715	$50,213	$47,750	120%
19	Valdosta StateValdosta · public	$39,692	$48,764	$26,750	67%
20	Shorter UniversityRome · private nonprofit	$39,460	$50,082	$26,568	67%
21	Albany StateAlbany · public	$39,031	$51,075	$31,000	79%
22	Georgia Southwestern StateAmericus · public	$38,973	$45,956	$26,431	68%
23	Truett McConnell UniversityCleveland · private nonprofit	$37,831	Not reported	$24,000	63%

3 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Georgia teacher education program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 23 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

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 teacher education, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education

$72,290

Median pay in Georgia. 43,820 people work in this job in Georgia. 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%: $49,260Top 10%: $98,030

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$75,480

Median pay in Georgia. 25,730 people work in this job in Georgia. 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%: $49,450Top 10%: $96,820

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$64,780

Median pay in Georgia. 23,610 people work in this job in Georgia. 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%: $47,540Top 10%: $97,960

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education

$43,920

Median pay in Georgia. 16,850 people work in this job in Georgia. 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.

Bottom 10%: $28,150Top 10%: $77,130

Common questions

Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville reports the highest median first-year pay, $48,203. Its median federal debt is $21,590.

Teacher Education (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked655 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 Georgia rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the 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