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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.

$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.

Top 15 education majors programs by median completer earnings

Education Majors bachelor's (CIP 13.12) · higher is higher early-career pay

median earnings

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.

Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard Field of Study As of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

The full top 100

# School Name StateMedian EarningsMedian DebtCompleters
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.