Which Texas teacher education program has the lowest debt?

Baylor University reports the lowest median federal debt, $22,250, with first-year pay of $53,614.

How much do teacher education graduates earn in Texas?

The median across 13 Texas teacher education bachelor's programs is $44,023 in the first year after graduating and $48,474 five years after.

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

13 Texas programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 11 of them also report federal debt.

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

13 programs report first-year pay
11 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 Texas teacher education bachelor's program pays its graduates $44,023 in their first year, $2,068 more than the national median. TCU reports the highest first-year pay ($55,814), and Baylor University the lowest median debt ($22,250).

Median first-year pay$44,023National $41,955

Median pay after 5 years$48,474National $46,679

Median federal debt$27,000National $26,075

Debt-to-earnings58%National 61%

All 13 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	TCUFort Worth · private nonprofit	$55,814	$47,588	$22,287	40%
2	Dallas Baptist UniversityDallas · private nonprofit	$54,594	$49,360	$22,500	41%
3	Baylor UniversityWaco · private nonprofit	$53,614	$50,814	$22,250	42%
4	University of Mary Hardin-BaylorBelton · private nonprofit	$50,657	$55,130	$27,000	53%
5	Abilene Christian UniversityAbilene · private nonprofit	$50,486	$49,638	$27,209	54%
6	East Texas Baptist UniversityMarshall · private nonprofit	$44,547	$42,030	$26,087	59%
7	Hardin-Simmons UniversityAbilene · private nonprofit	$44,023	$44,120	Not reported	Not reported
8	University of the Incarnate WordSan Antonio · private nonprofit	$43,843	$54,448	$31,000	71%
9	Lubbock Christian UniversityLubbock · private nonprofit	$43,729	$46,244	$25,250	58%
10	McMurry UniversityAbilene · private nonprofit	$42,900	$46,088	$29,750	69%
11	Wayland Baptist UniversityPlainview · private nonprofit	$38,397	$42,735	$31,694	83%
12	LeTourneau UniversityLongview · private nonprofit	$35,487	$45,128	$33,334	94%
13	Howard Payne UniversityBrownwood · private nonprofit	$35,357	$42,130	Not reported	Not reported

Hardin-Simmons University and Howard Payne University report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 11 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

$62,760

Median pay in Texas. 116,260 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $48,500Top 10%: $73,570

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$63,590

Median pay in Texas. 111,660 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $50,410Top 10%: $78,020

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$63,390

Median pay in Texas. 80,160 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $51,410Top 10%: $75,750

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education

$33,860

Median pay in Texas. 41,200 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $26,430Top 10%: $49,680

Common questions

TCU in Fort Worth reports the highest median first-year pay, $55,814. Its median federal debt is $22,287.

Teacher Education (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked655 programs by pay and debt Teacher Education (Associate's) programs in Texas, ranked13 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 Texas 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