US College Programs

Teacher Education (Bachelor's) Programs in New Mexico, 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 Levels and Methods

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median New Mexico teacher education bachelor's program pays its graduates $41,352 in their first year, $603 less than the national median. Eastern New Mexico University reports the highest first-year pay ($41,896), and New Mexico Highlands University the lowest median debt ($18,375).

Median first-year pay$41,352National $41,955
Median pay after 5 years$46,792National $46,679
Median federal debt$24,000National $26,075
Debt-to-earnings57%National 61%

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.

Debt and first-year pay at every New Mexico teacher education program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the New Mexico 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. Eastern New Mexico University$41,896
  2. New Mexico State$41,888
  3. New Mexico Highlands University$41,352
  4. University of New Mexico$41,304
  5. University of the Southwest$40,282

Lowest median debt

  1. New Mexico Highlands University$18,375
  2. University of New Mexico$21,812
  3. Eastern New Mexico University$24,000
  4. University of the Southwest$24,312
  5. New Mexico State$24,705

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. New Mexico Highlands University44%
  2. University of New Mexico53%
  3. Eastern New Mexico University57%
  4. New Mexico State59%
  5. University of the Southwest60%

"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

$74,550

Median pay in New Mexico. 6,210 people work in this job in New Mexico. 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%: $58,120Top 10%: $86,560

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$75,900

Median pay in New Mexico. 8,120 people work in this job in New Mexico. 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%: $59,330Top 10%: $84,170

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$75,240

Median pay in New Mexico. 4,260 people work in this job in New Mexico. 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%: $61,630Top 10%: $82,880

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education

$44,070

Median pay in New Mexico. 2,490 people work in this job in New Mexico. 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%: $32,270Top 10%: $79,560

Common questions

Eastern New Mexico University in Portales reports the highest median first-year pay, $41,896. Its median federal debt is $24,000.

Related pages

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 New Mexico 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

  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