Best Teacher programs in California, ranked by enrollment
All teachers and instructors not listed.
25 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 684 people a year. The job pays a median of $87,460 in California across about 31,010 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.
5 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 13.9999In California → | 371 | 54.2% | 16 | $34,646 | $25,855 |
| 2 | CIP 13.1399In California → | 240 | 35.1% | 2 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 3 | CIP 13.0202In California → | 44 | 6.4% | 6 | $56,738 | $19,664 |
| 4 | CIP 13.0201In California → | 23 | 3.4% | 3 | $56,738 | $19,664 |
| 5 | CIP 13.1211In California → | 6 | 0.9% | 1 | $41,127 | $25,500 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 25 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 193 | Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas, Other | — | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 2 | California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Pomona, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 100 | Education, Other | $31,250 | 68% | — | 75% |
| 3 | Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 74 | Education, Other | $31,095 | 58% | — | 93% |
| 4 | Alliant International University - San Diego San Diego, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 66 | Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas, Other | — | — | — | 0% |
| 5 | California State University - Channel Islands Camarillo, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 65 | Education, Other | $34,646 | 51% | — | 95% |
| 6 | Berkeley City College Berkeley, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Education, Other | — | 36% | — | — |
| 7 | Foothill College Los Altos Hills, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Education, Other | — | 56% | — | — |
| 8 | University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Multicultural Education | — | 70% | $37,121 | 62% |
| 9 | University of San Diego San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Education, Other | — | 84% | $26,035 | 52% |
| 10 | California State University - San Marcos San Marcos, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Bilingual and Multilingual Education | — | 55% | — | 95% |
| 11 | Pacific Oaks College Pasadena, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Education, Other | — | — | — | 34% |
| 12 | Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey Monterey, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Education, Other | — | — | — | — |
| 13 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 11 | Multicultural Education | — | 76% | — | 36% |
| 14 | Biola University La Mirada, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 9 | Multicultural Education | — | 68% | $26,727 | 74% |
| 15 | The Chicago School at Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Online Educator/Online Teaching | — | 0% | — | 46% |
| 16 | Claremont Graduate University Claremont, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Multicultural Education | — | — | — | — |
| 17 | California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Education, Other | — | 57% | — | 93% |
| 18 | Rio Hondo College Whittier, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Education, Other | — | 25% | — | — |
| 19 | National University San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Multicultural Education | — | 43% | $31,817 | — |
| 20 | California Prestige University Santa Fe Springs, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Education, Other | — | — | — | — |
| 21 | Ohlone College Fremont, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Education, Other | — | 52% | — | — |
| 22 | University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Education, Other | — | 86% | — | 27% |
| 23 | University of California - Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Multicultural Education | — | 75% | — | 66% |
| 24 | Coastline Community College Fountain Valley, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Education, Other | — | 34% | — | — |
| 25 | University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Education, Other | — | 93% | — | 11% |
All 25 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 Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 193 | 2 |
| California State Polytechnic University - Pomona | Pomona | Public | 100 | 1 |
| Sonoma State University | Rohnert Park | Public | 74 | 1 |
| Alliant International University - San Diego | San Diego | Private for-profit | 66 | 1 |
| California State University - Channel Islands | Camarillo | Public | 65 | 1 |
| Berkeley City College | Berkeley | Public | 28 | 1 |
| Foothill College | Los Altos Hills | Public | 23 | 1 |
| University of San Francisco | San Francisco | Private not-for-profit | 21 | 1 |
| University of San Diego | San Diego | Private not-for-profit | 18 | 1 |
| California State University - San Marcos | San Marcos | Public | 16 | 1 |
| Pacific Oaks College | Pasadena | Private not-for-profit | 16 | 1 |
| Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey | Monterey | Private not-for-profit | 12 | 1 |
| San Diego State University | San Diego | Public | 11 | 2 |
| Biola University | La Mirada | Private not-for-profit | 9 | 2 |
| The Chicago School at Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 6 | 1 |
What teachers and instructors, all other earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $66,140. California pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: California employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
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 Teachers and Instructors, All Other page.
How to become a Teacher
- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 9 majors mapped to Teachers and Instructors, All Other8 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.0201Bilingual and Multilingual Education
- 13.0202Multicultural Education
- 13.0203Indian/Native American Education
- 13.1207Montessori Teacher Education
- 13.1208Waldorf/Steiner Teacher Education(no graduates reported)
- 13.1211Online Educator/Online Teaching
- 13.1304Driver and Safety Teacher Education
- 13.1399Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas, Other
- 13.9999Education, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing teachers and instructors, all other programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Teacher?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Education, Other, which awarded 371 degrees in California in 2024-25, 54.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Teacher?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Education, Teacher Education and Professional Development, Bilingual, Teacher Education and Professional Development. Together they graduate about 684 people a year in California.
How much do teachers and instructors, all other earn in California?+
The median is $87,460 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 32.2% above the U.S. median of $66,140. 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 teachers and instructors, all other growing?+
BLS projects a -0.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 18,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
25 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 5 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.
Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+
BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'None' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.
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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