Best Adult Basic Education programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Teach or instruct out-of-school youths and adults in basic education, literacy, or English as a Second Language classes, or in classes for earning a high school equivalency.
22 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 338 people a year. The job pays a median of $102,030 in California across about 1,660 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 13.1401In California → | 271 | 80.2% | 18 | $36,305 | $26,250 |
| 2 | CIP 13.0202In California → | 44 | 13.0% | 6 | $56,738 | $19,664 |
| 3 | CIP 13.0201In California → | 23 | 6.8% | 3 | $56,738 | $19,664 |
Top 22 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 22 schools in this state.
All 22 schools in California
Every school in California with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alliant International University - San Diego | San Diego | Private for-profit | 92 | 1 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 41 | 1 |
| University of San Francisco | San Francisco | Private not-for-profit | 33 | 2 |
| San Diego State University | San Diego | Public | 24 | 3 |
| Azusa Pacific University | Azusa | Private not-for-profit | 22 | 1 |
| California State University - San Bernardino | San Bernardino | Public | 22 | 1 |
| Biola University | La Mirada | Private not-for-profit | 17 | 3 |
| California State University - San Marcos | San Marcos | Public | 16 | 1 |
| Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey | Monterey | Private not-for-profit | 12 | 1 |
| California State University - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 10 | 1 |
| Pepperdine University | Malibu | Private not-for-profit | 9 | 1 |
| California State University - Fullerton | Fullerton | Public | 8 | 1 |
| California State University - Northridge | Northridge | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Westcliff University | Irvine | Private for-profit | 7 | 1 |
| Claremont Graduate University | Claremont | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
What adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $61,540. California pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors page.
How to become a Adult Basic Education
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 8 majors mapped to Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors7 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.0201Bilingual and Multilingual Education
- 13.0202Multicultural Education
- 13.0299Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education, Other
- 13.1201Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching
- 13.1401Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor
- 13.1402Teaching French as a Second or Foreign Language(no graduates reported)
- 13.1499Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language, Other
- 13.1502Adult Literacy Tutor/Instructor
Common questions
Answers for people weighing adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors programs in California.
What degree do you need to become an Adult Basic Education?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor, which awarded 271 degrees in California in 2024-25, 80.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Adult Basic Education?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language, Bilingual. Together they graduate about 338 people a year in California.
How much do adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors earn in California?+
The median is $102,030 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 65.8% above the U.S. median of $61,540. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors growing?+
BLS projects a -13.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 3,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
22 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Teacher, Adult Basic Education Instructor (ABE Instructor), ESL Instructor (English as a Second Language Instructor), GED Instructor (General Educational Development Instructor) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-3011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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