Best Chemistry Teacher, Postsecondary programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Teach courses pertaining to the chemical and physical properties and compositional changes of substances. Work may include providing instruction in the methods of qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis.
132 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,856 people a year. The job pays a median of $132,960 in California across about 1,650 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.
9 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 40.0501In California → | 2,644 | 92.6% | 131 | $42,620 | $23,900 |
| 2 | CIP 40.0599In California → | 149 | 5.2% | 5 | $42,620 | $23,900 |
| 3 | CIP 13.1316In California → | 25 | 0.9% | 5 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 4 | CIP 51.2004In California → | 12 | 0.4% | 1 | $48,728 | $23,761 |
| 5 | CIP 40.0602In California → | 9 | 0.3% | 2 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 6 | CIP 40.0510In California → | 6 | 0.2% | 1 | $42,620 | $23,900 |
| 7 | CIP 40.0507In California → | 5 | 0.2% | 1 | $42,620 | $23,900 |
| 8 | CIP 40.0508In California → | 4 | 0.1% | 1 | $42,620 | $23,900 |
| 9 | CIP 13.1323In California → | 2 | 0.1% | 1 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 23 of the 132 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 234 | Chemistry, General | $59,576 | 93% | — | 11% |
| 2 | University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 229 | Chemistry, General | $45,310 | 86% | — | 27% |
| 3 | University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 192 | Chemistry, General | $43,766 | 87% | — | 29% |
| 4 | University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 170 | Chemistry, General | $42,358 | 93% | — | 9% |
| 5 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 4 feeder programs | 107 | Chemistry, General | $42,204 | 86% | — | 42% |
| 6 | University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 92 | Chemistry, General | $47,197 | 83% | — | 33% |
| 7 | University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 82 | Chemistry, General | $39,676 | 76% | — | 76% |
| 8 | California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Pomona, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 60 | Chemistry, General | $43,294 | 68% | — | 75% |
| 9 | Irvine Valley College Irvine, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 60 | Chemistry, General | — | 57% | — | — |
| 10 | Diablo Valley College Pleasant Hill, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 54 | Chemistry, General | — | 49% | — | — |
| 11 | Stanford University Stanford, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 51 | Chemistry, General | — | 92% | $12,032 | 4% |
| 12 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 49 | Chemistry, General | $43,603 | 76% | — | 36% |
| 13 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 49 | Chemistry, General | — | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 14 | San Jose State University San Jose, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 48 | Chemistry, General | — | 69% | — | 85% |
| 15 | Fullerton College Fullerton, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 46 | Chemistry, General | — | 34% | — | — |
| 16 | Orange Coast College Costa Mesa, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 45 | Chemistry, General | — | 48% | — | — |
| 17 | University of California - Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 43 | Chemistry, General | $39,700 | 75% | — | 66% |
| 18 | California State University - San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 42 | Chemistry, General | $40,402 | 55% | — | 94% |
| 19 | Saddleback College Mission Viejo, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 42 | Chemistry, General | — | 48% | — | — |
| 20 | California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 41 | Chemistry, General | — | 94% | $17,608 | 3% |
| 21 | California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 41 | Chemistry, General | — | 86% | — | 31% |
| 22 | University of California - Merced Merced, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 41 | Chemistry, General | $50,944 | 69% | — | 91% |
| 23 | California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 39 | Chemistry, General | $50,553 | 69% | — | 46% |
| 24 | Ohlone College Fremont, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 39 | Chemistry, General | — | 52% | — | — |
| 25 | Golden West College Huntington Beach, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 38 | Chemistry, General | — | 49% | — | — |
All 132 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California - Berkeley | Berkeley | Public | 234 | 1 |
| University of California - San Diego | La Jolla | Public | 229 | 2 |
| University of California - Irvine | Irvine | Public | 192 | 1 |
| University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 170 | 3 |
| University of California - Davis | Davis | Public | 107 | 4 |
| University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara | Public | 92 | 2 |
| University of California - Riverside | Riverside | Public | 82 | 1 |
| California State Polytechnic University - Pomona | Pomona | Public | 60 | 1 |
| Irvine Valley College | Irvine | Public | 60 | 1 |
| Diablo Valley College | Pleasant Hill | Public | 54 | 1 |
| Stanford University | Stanford | Private not-for-profit | 51 | 1 |
| San Diego State University | San Diego | Public | 49 | 2 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 49 | 1 |
| San Jose State University | San Jose | Public | 48 | 2 |
| Fullerton College | Fullerton | Public | 46 | 1 |
What chemistry teachers, postsecondary earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $93,250. 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 Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary page.
How to become a Chemistry Teacher, Postsecondary
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or 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 17 majors mapped to Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary16 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.1316Science Teacher Education/General Science Teacher Education
- 13.1323Chemistry Teacher Education
- 40.0501Chemistry, General
- 40.0502Analytical Chemistry
- 40.0503Inorganic Chemistry
- 40.0504Organic Chemistry
- 40.0506Physical Chemistry
- 40.0507Polymer Chemistry
- 40.0508Chemical Physics
- 40.0509Environmental Chemistry
- 40.0510Forensic Chemistry
- 40.0511Theoretical Chemistry
- 40.0512Cheminformatics/Chemistry Informatics(no graduates reported)
- 40.0599Chemistry, Other
- 40.0602Geochemistry
- 40.1002Materials Chemistry
- 51.2004Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Common questions
Answers for people weighing chemistry teachers, postsecondary programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Chemistry Teacher, Postsecondary?+
Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Chemistry, General, which awarded 2,644 degrees in California in 2024-25, 92.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Chemistry Teacher, Postsecondary?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 9 programs to this occupation. The largest are Chemistry, Teacher Education and Professional Development, Pharmacy, Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences. Together they graduate about 2,856 people a year in California.
How much do chemistry teachers, postsecondary earn in California?+
The median is $132,960 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 42.6% above the U.S. median of $93,250. 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 chemistry teachers, postsecondary growing?+
BLS projects a +2.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 1,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
132 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 9 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 chemistry teachers, postsecondary work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Assistant Professor, Chemistry Professor, Chemistry Instructor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1052.
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
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card