Program ranking · CIP 13.12 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Education Majors

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Education Majors (CIP 13.12) bachelor's completers. Rankings use earnings only - not prestige, selectivity, or editorial judgment - and require at least 25 completers so tiny suppressed cohorts do not dominate the list.

Compiled by PlainCollege , College outcomes data analysis

$75,637
Highest education majors earnings: 100
Colleges ranked: $53,276
#100 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $53,276 median earnings for Education Majors bachelor's (CIP 13.12) completers. College of Staten Island CUNY leads at $75,637.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

$75,637
#1 - College of Staten: $53,276
#100 - the cutoff to make this list: 25+
completers required per school: 1,184
US schools offering this CIP

Earnings are field-of-study medians for federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled; see methodology for horizon and lag details.

College of Staten Island…

$75,637
CUNY Hunter College

$73,857
St. John's University-Ne…

$69,439
Hofstra University

$67,847
CUNY Queens College

$67,221
New York University

$64,640
University of Illinois C…

$64,100
Elon University

$63,041
Western Washington Unive…

$62,500
State University of New …

$62,275
Saint Peter's University

$62,040
Boston College

$61,719
Centenary University

$61,358
Washington State Univers…

$61,304
North Seattle College

$61,250

What this shows Education-major medians track public K-12 pay scales and state markets - debt still matters even when loan-forgiveness paths can change the long-run repayment path.

The full top 100

#	School Name	State	Median Earnings	Median Debt	Completers
1	College of Staten Island CUNY	NY	$75,637	$20,340	52
2	CUNY Hunter College	NY	$73,857	$13,920	73
3	St. John's University-New York	NY	$69,439	$27,000	74
4	Hofstra University	NY	$67,847	$23,250	44
5	CUNY Queens College	NY	$67,221	$11,000	140
6	New York University	NY	$64,640	$18,000	47
7	University of Illinois Chicago	IL	$64,100	$15,000	49
8	Elon University	NC	$63,041	$20,000	45
9	Western Washington University	WA	$62,500	$20,043	75
10	State University of New York at Cortland	NY	$62,275	$21,794	138
11	Saint Peter's University	NJ	$62,040	$23,650	37
12	Boston College	MA	$61,719	$18,000	32
13	Centenary University	NJ	$61,358	$23,611	26
14	Washington State University	WA	$61,304	$20,819	194
15	North Seattle College	WA	$61,250	-	53
16	Assumption University	MA	$61,136	$27,000	34
17	University of Utah	UT	$61,081	$23,370	47
18	Heritage University	WA	$60,999	$18,750	35
19	University of Scranton	PA	$60,846	$27,000	30
20	Fresno Pacific University	CA	$60,338	$23,000	86
21	Rider University	NJ	$60,178	$25,748	74
22	Texas Christian University	TX	$60,125	$22,287	49
23	Whitworth University	WA	$60,010	$26,799	61
24	San Francisco State University	CA	$59,993	$12,500	258
25	University of Washington-Seattle Campus	WA	$59,736	$15,249	109
26	Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia	PA	$59,717	$27,000	47
27	Central Washington University	WA	$59,659	$20,205	246
28	Mount St. Mary's University	MD	$59,630	$23,250	27
29	Saint Martin's University	WA	$59,433	-	25
30	The College of New Jersey	NJ	$59,328	$23,299	104
31	Salve Regina University	RI	$59,178	$27,000	43
32	Kean University	NJ	$58,885	$25,713	116
33	CUNY Brooklyn College	NY	$58,828	$10,315	194
34	Endicott College	MA	$58,749	-	28
35	SUNY Oneonta	NY	$58,496	$20,250	179
36	Florida Gulf Coast University	FL	$58,115	$17,989	78
37	Saint Xavier University	IL	$58,097	$27,000	27
38	University of Maryland-College Park	MD	$58,086	$18,625	83
39	Florida SouthWestern State College	FL	$57,918	$10,519	76
40	Utah Tech University	UT	$57,758	$27,860	26
41	Iona University	NY	$57,669	$20,500	32
42	State University of New York at Oswego	NY	$57,622	$20,196	61
43	SUNY Old Westbury	NY	$57,360	$17,862	58
44	University of Rhode Island	RI	$56,999	$21,875	120
45	Marquette University	WI	$56,955	$23,250	52
46	George Fox University	OR	$56,768	$22,562	52
47	Jackson State University	MS	$56,747	$30,500	44
48	Salem State University	MA	$56,509	-	78
49	Baylor University	TX	$56,476	$22,250	60
50	University of Massachusetts-Boston	MA	$56,460	$24,990	68
51	Martin Luther College	MN	$56,435	$20,695	79
52	St. John Fisher University	NY	$56,411	$26,783	44
53	University of Delaware	DE	$56,301	$25,908	173
54	University of Connecticut	CT	$56,268	$24,500	38
55	Towson University	MD	$56,254	$17,500	189
56	Point Loma Nazarene University	CA	$56,198	$25,000	59
57	University of Nevada-Las Vegas	NV	$56,095	$21,226	207
58	Florida Atlantic University	FL	$56,073	$16,791	84
59	Saint Anselm College	NH	$56,049	$27,000	34
60	State University of New York at Plattsburgh	NY	$55,996	-	49
61	Boricua College	NY	$55,959	-	30
62	CUNY City College	NY	$55,895	$9,558	94
63	Emmanuel College	MA	$55,866	$27,000	36
64	Salisbury University	MD	$55,807	$20,500	135
65	Eastern Washington University	WA	$55,671	$18,994	52
66	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	$55,543	$18,340	57
67	University of Nevada-Reno	NV	$55,532	$22,000	93
68	Temple University	PA	$55,494	$24,250	95
69	University of Hawaii at Manoa	HI	$55,490	$18,263	112
70	Weber State University	UT	$55,299	$17,895	80
71	Miami Dade College	FL	$55,276	-	61
72	Vanderbilt University	TN	$55,188	-	35
73	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	$55,105	$18,425	131
74	Georgia State University	GA	$54,899	$24,750	98
75	SUNY College at Geneseo	NY	$54,725	$19,875	72
76	Nevada State University	NV	$54,646	$24,585	48
77	Drexel University	PA	$54,571	$31,250	37
78	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	$54,558	$14,375	70
79	University of Alaska Fairbanks	AK	$54,423	$12,500	27
80	Elizabethtown College	PA	$54,337	$27,000	30
81	Southern Utah University	UT	$54,243	$13,500	51
82	Stevenson University	MD	$54,233	$26,000	26
83	DePaul University	IL	$54,208	$27,000	68
84	Indiana University-Northwest	IN	$54,088	$28,084	28
85	University of Portland	OR	$53,963	$27,000	36
86	The University of Tampa	FL	$53,942	$24,250	45
87	Loyola University Chicago	IL	$53,896	$25,000	53
88	Florida International University	FL	$53,854	$16,100	331
89	SUNY College at Potsdam	NY	$53,834	$23,850	58
90	Northwestern State University of Louisiana	LA	$53,800	$19,731	30
91	North Carolina Central University	NC	$53,794	$27,000	29
92	National University	CA	$53,761	$31,250	129
93	Indian River State College	FL	$53,747	-	29
94	Southern Oregon University	OR	$53,584	$23,000	27
95	New Mexico Highlands University	NM	$53,566	$16,325	93
96	Valparaiso University	IN	$53,495	$26,437	28
97	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	PA	$53,362	$26,000	262
98	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Altoona	PA	$53,362	$26,000	31
99	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Harrisburg	PA	$53,362	$26,000	25
100	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	MN	$53,276	$19,497	80

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Education Majors (CIP 13.12) bachelor's completers. Only operating schools with at least 25 completers and a published median are included. Ties break toward larger completer cohorts. For the full program profile - including every reporting school and national distribution - see Education Majors (bachelor's). Methodology lives on our methodology page.

Caveats and limitations

"Best" here means highest reported median earnings for the stated CIP scope - not teaching quality, licensure pass rates, clinical placement strength, or fit for any one student. This list covers Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (CIP 13.12) - the honest Scorecard answer for education-major demand. Education, General (CIP 13.01) alone is too thin, and subject-specific teacher CIP 13.13 is ranked separately when demand warrants.

Figures cover federally aided completers only, use Treasury-linked earnings, and describe a lagged cohort. Regional pay scales and graduate-school paths both move the median without proving a causal school effect.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute academic or career advice. Earnings do not predict any individual graduate's outcome.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from College Scorecard field-of-study data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals.