Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many teacher education grade specific graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	53,166
Master’s Degree	30,169
Associate Degree	13,379
Basic Certificate	6,220
Graduate Certificate	4,745
Undergraduate Certificate	2,638
Doctor’s Degree	453

What Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, grade specific ed majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Grade Specific Ed Majors

Grade Specific Ed majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for Grade Specific Ed Majors

When studying grade specific ed, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Grade Specific Ed Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a grade specific ed student include the following:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

What Can You Do With a Major?

People with a grade specific ed degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education	7.4%	$58,230
Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education	8.0%	$55,470
Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	7.5%	$58,600
Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education	10.5%	$29,780
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	7.5%	$60,320
Self-Enrichment Education Teachers	16.2%	$38,720
Tutors	9.9%	NA

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in ?

This is one of the most frequently chosen teaching majors. It is the 1st most popular in the country with 53,664 students graduating with a bachelor’s in grade specific ed in 2021. The major attracts more women than men. About 90% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of grade specific ed majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1,466
Black or African American	3,412
Hispanic or Latino	7,819
White	36,647
International Students	462
Other Races/Ethnicities	3,360

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Grade Specific Ed. About 0.9% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• China
• Canada
• South Korea
• Saudi Arabia
• Taiwan

How Much Do Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

Salaries According to BLS

Grade Specific Ed majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $44,960 to $62,200 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to

Some careers associated with grade specific ed require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to grade specific ed have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.2%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	5.8%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	3.2%
Some College Courses	4.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	4.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	53.0%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	10.0%
Master’s Degree	17.4%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.3%
Doctoral Degree	1.0%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.1%

Online Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	322	65
Certificate (2-4 Years)	10	3
Associate’s Degree	947	184
Bachelor’s Degree	477	148
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1,555	352
Post-Master’s	136	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	83	11
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	3	3

Is a Degree in Worth It?

The median salary for a grade specific ed grad is $58,370 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 46% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $369,400 after 20 years!

Majors Related to

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to grade specific ed.

Major	Number of Grads
Educational Administration	46,975
Teacher Education Subject Specific	42,343
Special Education	35,973
General Education	29,389
Curriculum & Instruction	19,217
Student Counseling	14,506
Instructional Media Design	9,224
Teaching English or French	5,525
Other Education	4,887
Educational Assessment	3,853
Teaching Assistants	2,720
Multilingual Education	1,995
Education Philosophy	932
International Education	279

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Vgrigas under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.