Which Washington teacher education program has the lowest debt?

Grays Harbor College reports the lowest median federal debt, $12,303, with first-year pay of $33,763.

How much do teacher education graduates earn in Washington?

The median across 14 Washington teacher education bachelor's programs is $44,922 in the first year after graduating and $62,306 five years after.

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

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

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

14 programs report first-year pay
13 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 Washington teacher education bachelor's program pays its graduates $44,922 in their first year, $2,967 more than the national median. Pacific Lutheran University reports the highest first-year pay ($57,624), and Grays Harbor College the lowest median debt ($12,303).

Median first-year pay$44,922National $41,955

Median pay after 5 years$62,306National $46,679

Median federal debt$20,885National $26,075

Debt-to-earnings47%National 61%

All 14 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	Pacific Lutheran UniversityTacoma · private nonprofit	$57,624	$62,293	$19,500	34%
2	Pierce College DistrictLakewood · public	$55,849	Not reported	$23,365	42%
3	Walla Walla UniversityCollege Place · private nonprofit	$55,427	Not reported	$29,249	53%
4	Western Washington UniversityBellingham · public	$53,133	$68,556	$22,000	41%
5	Northwest UniversityKirkland · private nonprofit	$49,499	$64,477	$23,168	47%
6	Central Washington UniversityEllensburg · public	$47,359	$62,318	$20,205	43%
7	Washington StatePullman · public	$46,998	$62,904	$22,960	49%
8	Whitworth UniversitySpokane · private nonprofit	$42,846	$54,287	$27,000	63%
9	North Seattle CollegeSeattle · public	$42,672	Not reported	$13,404	31%
10	Saint Martin's UniversityLacey · private nonprofit	$37,854	$60,990	Not reported	Not reported
11	Heritage UniversityToppenish · private nonprofit	$35,992	$65,066	$20,049	56%
12	University of WashingtonSeattle · public	$35,145	Not reported	$17,342	49%
13	Grays Harbor CollegeAberdeen · public	$33,763	Not reported	$12,303	36%
14	Eastern Washington UniversityCheney · public	$33,028	$41,892	$20,885	63%

Saint Martin's University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 13 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

$102,350

Median pay in Washington. 28,980 people work in this job in Washington. 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%: $64,610Top 10%: $127,570

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$102,670

Median pay in Washington. 14,880 people work in this job in Washington. 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%: $62,950Top 10%: $128,410

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$102,140

Median pay in Washington. 10,510 people work in this job in Washington. 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%: $65,250Top 10%: $128,170

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education

$45,660

Median pay in Washington. 13,210 people work in this job in Washington. 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%: $38,080Top 10%: $60,130

Common questions

Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma reports the highest median first-year pay, $57,624. Its median federal debt is $19,500.

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 Washington 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