Which Illinois teacher education program has the lowest debt?

Northeastern Illinois University reports the lowest median federal debt, $15,612, with first-year pay of $41,938.

How much do teacher education graduates earn in Illinois?

The median across 38 Illinois teacher education bachelor's programs is $44,143 in the first year after graduating and $47,159 five years after.

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

38 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 34 of them also report federal debt.

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

38 programs report first-year pay
34 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 Illinois teacher education bachelor's program pays its graduates $44,143 in their first year, $2,188 more than the national median. UIC reports the highest first-year pay ($60,917), and Northeastern Illinois University the lowest median debt ($15,612).

Median first-year pay$44,143National $41,955

Median pay after 5 years$47,159National $46,679

Median federal debt$25,250National $26,075

Debt-to-earnings58%National 61%

All 38 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	UICChicago · public	$60,917	$58,580	$16,750	27%
2	Loyola ChicagoChicago · private nonprofit	$55,652	Not reported	$25,000	45%
3	Elmhurst UniversityElmhurst · private nonprofit	$48,105	$52,374	$24,064	50%
4	UIUCChampaign · public	$48,038	$52,589	$19,500	41%
5	Wheaton CollegeWheaton · private nonprofit	$47,714	$49,942	$25,000	52%
6	North Central CollegeNaperville · private nonprofit	$47,668	$58,760	$27,000	57%
7	Roosevelt UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$47,134	$56,521	$25,000	53%
8	Saint Xavier UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$46,377	$49,081	$29,854	64%
9	North Park UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$46,168	$42,315	Not reported	Not reported
10	Trinity Christian CollegePalos Heights · private nonprofit	$45,968	$51,796	$27,000	59%
11	Dominican UniversityRiver Forest · private nonprofit	$45,924	$54,060	$27,000	59%
12	Augustana CollegeRock Island · private nonprofit	$45,517	$53,637	$27,000	59%
13	Governors StateUniversity Park · public	$45,235	$43,477	$21,500	48%
14	Illinois Wesleyan UniversityBloomington · private nonprofit	$44,923	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
15	Illinois StateNormal · public	$44,898	$49,945	$22,500	50%
16	Concordia University-ChicagoRiver Forest · private nonprofit	$44,618	$46,261	$23,250	52%
17	University of Illinois SpringfieldSpringfield · public	$44,458	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
18	Aurora UniversityAurora · private nonprofit	$44,282	$48,179	$24,197	55%
19	Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb · public	$44,214	$48,018	$25,250	57%
20	Olivet Nazarene UniversityBourbonnais · private nonprofit	$44,072	$40,237	$26,951	61%
21	University of St FrancisJoliet · private nonprofit	$43,864	Not reported	$23,878	54%
22	McKendree UniversityLebanon · private nonprofit	$43,707	$44,490	$20,500	47%
23	Eureka CollegeEureka · private nonprofit	$43,609	$41,624	$27,000	62%
24	Bradley UniversityPeoria · private nonprofit	$43,359	$44,997	$27,000	62%
25	Millikin UniversityDecatur · private nonprofit	$43,331	$40,735	$27,340	63%
26	DePaul UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$43,326	$52,867	$27,000	62%
27	Benedictine UniversityLisle · private nonprofit	$42,407	$47,325	$26,000	61%
28	Northeastern Illinois UniversityChicago · public	$41,938	$58,256	$15,612	37%
29	Knox CollegeGalesburg · private nonprofit	$41,934	$44,962	$27,000	64%
30	Eastern Illinois UniversityCharleston · public	$41,582	$47,159	$22,075	53%
31	Lewis UniversityRomeoville · private nonprofit	$41,130	$49,247	$26,000	63%
32	Western Illinois UniversityMacomb · public	$40,544	$44,479	$25,133	62%
33	National Louis UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$40,484	$45,971	$42,172	104%
34	Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale · public	$39,496	$46,084	$21,944	56%
35	Rockford UniversityRockford · private nonprofit	$38,867	$44,321	$27,000	69%
36	Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsville · public	$38,830	$44,029	$26,250	68%
37	Quincy UniversityQuincy · private nonprofit	$37,657	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
38	Greenville UniversityGreenville · private nonprofit	$36,911	$39,152	$22,103	60%

North Park University, Illinois Wesleyan University, University of Illinois Springfield, and Quincy University report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 34 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

UIC$60,917
Loyola Chicago$55,652
Elmhurst University$48,105
UIUC$48,038
Wheaton College$47,714

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

$75,320

Median pay in Illinois. 61,520 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $47,040Top 10%: $105,250

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$79,990

Median pay in Illinois. 44,670 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $49,020Top 10%: $135,960

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$76,110

Median pay in Illinois. 24,770 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $47,810Top 10%: $105,580

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education

$40,910

Median pay in Illinois. 22,420 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $36,030Top 10%: $60,890

Common questions

UIC in Chicago reports the highest median first-year pay, $60,917. Its median federal debt is $16,750.

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 Illinois 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