Secondary Education

Types of Degrees Secondary Education Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many secondary education graduations there were in 2018-2019 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	4,951
Bachelor’s Degree	3,393
Associate’s Degree	605
Undergraduate Certificate	301
Graduate Certificate	296
Basic Certificate	25
Doctor’s Degree	14

What Secondary Education Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, secondary teaching 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 Secondary Teaching Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• 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.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Skills for Secondary Teaching Majors

When studying secondary teaching, 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:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• 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.
• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Secondary Teaching Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a secondary teaching 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.
• 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.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Secondary Education Major?

People with a secondary teaching degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	7.5%	$60,320

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education?

The major attracts more women than men. About 63% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of secondary teaching majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	64
Black or African American	93
Hispanic or Latino	263
White	2,741
International Students	22
Other Races/Ethnicities	210

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Secondary Teaching, too. About 0.6% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Secondary Education Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Secondary Teaching majors often go into careers with median salaries of $64,340. This median refers to 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 Secondary Education

Some careers associated with secondary teaching require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

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

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Bachelor’s Degree	52.9%
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.	14.8%
Master’s Degree	24.3%
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.	4.3%
Doctoral Degree	4.3%

Online Secondary Education Programs

In 2018-2019, 678 schools offered a secondary teaching program of some type. 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)	7	1
Certificate (1-2 years)	26	3
Certificate (2-4 Years)	3	0
Associate’s Degree	85	14
Bachelor’s Degree	59	14
Post-Baccalaureate	7	1
Master’s Degree	350	77
Post-Master’s	22	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	7	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Secondary Education Worth It?

The median salary for a secondary teaching grad is $64,340 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 61% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $488,800 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Secondary Education

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to secondary teaching.

Major	Number of Grads
Elementary Education	39,946
Early Childhood Education	31,056
Teacher Education	7,895
Teacher Development & Methodology	5,446
Junior High/Intermediate/Middle School Education & Teaching	3,330
Kindergarten/Preschool Education & Teaching	2,085
Adult & Continuing Education	1,222
Montessori Teacher Education	360

References

• 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.