MAJORS · 37 OF 115 SUBFIELDS BY ROI
Is a teacher education degree worth it?
Part of Education — see the whole category’s numbers.
On average, yes — the mean lifetime ROI is +$120,415. But the spread is the real story.
MEAN LIFETIME ROI · FREOPP 2021 · COHORT-WEIGHTED
+$120,415
across 775 bachelor’s programs · 100,172 graduates
MEDIAN GRADUATE
+$124K
MIDDLE 50% LAND BETWEEN
+$15K ⟷ +$221K
NEVER BREAK EVEN
23.1%
MEDIAN BREAK-EVEN AGE
36
ADJUSTED FOR REAL COMPLETION RATES
+$26K
IF YOU DROP OUT
−$107K
Questions
- Is a teacher education degree worth it?
- On average yes — across 775 U.S. bachelor’s programs (FREOPP 2021, cohort-weighted), the mean lifetime ROI for Teacher Education is +$120,415 and the median is +$123,684. 23.1% of graduates in this field never break even on the degree. The honest answer depends heavily on the specific program and school: the middle half of graduates land between +$15,477 and +$221,148.
- How long until a teacher education degree pays off?
- Among Teacher Education programs that do break even, the median graduate crosses into positive ROI at age 36 (FREOPP 2021). 23.1% of graduates in the field are in programs that never break even at all.
- Does the school matter for a teacher education major?
- Enormously. The middle 50% of Teacher Education graduates span +$15,477 to +$221,148 — a +$206K spread within one major. The same field can be a strong trade at one school and a losing one at another, which is why the per-school number matters more than the field average.
↓ Download the data (CSV) · All 115 subfields with full statistics. Free to cite with attribution. · Methodology
Cite this:
LE TEEN (2026). “Teacher Education: lifetime ROI statistics.” Data: FREOPP 2021. https://le-teen.com/majors/teacher-education