Which Ohio teacher education program has the lowest debt?

Cuyahoga Community College District reports the lowest median federal debt, $11,564, with first-year pay of $30,880.

How much do teacher education graduates earn in Ohio?

The median across 6 Ohio teacher education associate's programs is $27,409 in the first year after graduating and $31,732 five years after.

How many teacher education associate's programs are in Ohio?

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

Teacher Education (Associate's) Programs in Ohio, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

6 programs report first-year pay
6 also report federal debt
Associate'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 Ohio teacher education associate's program pays its graduates $27,409 in their first year, $2,072 more than the national median. Cuyahoga Community College District reports the highest first-year pay ($30,880), and Cuyahoga Community College District the lowest median debt ($11,564).

Median first-year pay$27,409National $25,337

Median pay after 5 years$31,732National $32,882

Median federal debt$15,250National $12,500

Debt-to-earnings60%National 51%

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	Cuyahoga Community College DistrictCleveland · public	$30,880	$33,405	$11,564	37%
2	Cincinnati State Technical and Community CollegeCincinnati · public	$30,102	$26,975	$20,710	69%
3	University of CincinnatiCincinnati · public	$29,867	$38,155	$15,625	52%
4	Sinclair Community CollegeDayton · public	$24,950	$34,692	$12,129	49%
5	Owens Community CollegePerrysburg · public	$22,645	$31,732	$15,250	67%
6	Kent StateKent · public	$18,576	$28,922	$17,273	93%

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

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Cuyahoga Community College District$30,880
Cincinnati State Technical and Community College$30,102
University of Cincinnati$29,867
Sinclair Community College$24,950
Owens Community College$22,645

Lowest median debt

Cuyahoga Community College District$11,564
Sinclair Community College$12,129
Owens Community College$15,250
University of Cincinnati$15,625
Kent State$17,273

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

$77,370

Median pay in Ohio. 47,870 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $47,680Top 10%: $99,210

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$78,800

Median pay in Ohio. 49,540 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $48,370Top 10%: $103,150

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$77,090

Median pay in Ohio. 30,450 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $46,040Top 10%: $101,940

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education

$35,180

Median pay in Ohio. 19,840 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $27,260Top 10%: $48,240

Common questions

Cuyahoga Community College District in Cleveland reports the highest median first-year pay, $30,880. Its median federal debt is $11,564.

Teacher Education (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked84 programs by pay and debt Teacher Education (Bachelor's) programs in Ohio, ranked31 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 Ohio rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the teacher education associate'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