Colorado·Educational Instruction and Library Occupations·SOC 25-1052

Best Chemistry Teacher, Postsecondary programs in Colorado, 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.

21 schools in Colorado run programs that feed this job, graduating 325 people a year. The job pays a median of $96,600 in Colorado across about 330 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledProfessorAssistant ProfessorChemistry ProfessorChemistry InstructorLecturerInstructorChemical EducatorCollege Professor
Graduates / yr
325
in Colorado
Median pay · Colorado
$96,600
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
330
people employed
Schools
21
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
52%
across those schools
Median net price
$23,510
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Colorado that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

6 programs in Colorado that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Colorado (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 Colorado page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 40.0501In Colorado
277
85.2%
20$42,620$23,900
2
CIP 40.0599In Colorado
18
5.5%
3$42,620$23,900
3
CIP 13.1316In Colorado
16
4.9%
3$43,033$26,044
4
CIP 51.2004In Colorado
6
1.8%
1$48,728$23,761
5
CIP 40.0508In Colorado
4
1.2%
1$42,620$23,900
6
CIP 40.0602In Colorado
4
1.2%
1$39,678$24,864

Top 21 schools in Colorado

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 21 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Colorado State University - Fort Collins
Fort Collins, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
60Chemistry, General$42,66067%89%
2University of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO Public · 2 feeder programs
58Chemistry, General74%78%
3Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO Public · 4 feeder programs
39Chemistry, General82%61%
4University of Northern Colorado
Greeley, CO Public · 3 feeder programs
27Chemistry, General$45,40651%86%
5University of Denver
Denver, CO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
19Chemistry, General76%$29,72678%
6Fort Lewis College
Durango, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
17Chemistry, General$34,15936%77%
7Metropolitan State University of Denver
Denver, CO Public · 2 feeder programs
17Chemistry, General$34,41732%99%
8Colorado Mesa University
Grand Junction, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
16Chemistry, General41%82%
9United States Air Force Academy
USAF Academy, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
16Chemistry, General88%14%
10University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus
Denver, CO Public · 2 feeder programs
16Chemistry, General46%75%
11Colorado College
Colorado Springs, CO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
11Chemistry, General88%$23,51018%
12Adams State University
Alamosa, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
8Chemistry, General39%
13University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
7Chemistry, General47%97%
14Colorado State University Pueblo
Pueblo, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
5Chemistry, General40%95%
15Regis University
Denver, CO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Chemistry, General61%$22,40786%
16Western Colorado University
Gunnison, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
2Chemistry, General50%100%
17Arapahoe Community College
Littleton, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
1Chemistry, General29%
18Front Range Community College
Westminster, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
1Chemistry, General35%
19Northeastern Junior College
Sterling, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
1Science Teacher Education/General Science Teacher Education56%
20Pikes Peak State College
Colorado Springs, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
1Chemistry, General21%
21Red Rocks Community College
Lakewood, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
1Chemistry, General32%

All 21 schools in Colorado

Every school in Colorado 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.

All schools in Colorado that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Colorado State University - Fort CollinsFort CollinsPublic601
University of Colorado BoulderBoulderPublic582
Colorado School of MinesGoldenPublic394
University of Northern ColoradoGreeleyPublic273
University of DenverDenverPrivate not-for-profit191
Fort Lewis CollegeDurangoPublic171
Metropolitan State University of DenverDenverPublic172
Colorado Mesa UniversityGrand JunctionPublic161
United States Air Force AcademyUSAF AcademyPublic161
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical CampusDenverPublic162
Colorado CollegeColorado SpringsPrivate not-for-profit111
Adams State UniversityAlamosaPublic81
University of Colorado Colorado SpringsColorado SpringsPublic71
Colorado State University PuebloPuebloPublic51
Regis UniversityDenverPrivate not-for-profit21

What chemistry teachers, postsecondary earn in Colorado

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Colorado
$96,600
Mean annual
$98,960
Jobs in state
330
What the range looks like
10th pct$54,270Median$96,60090th pct$161,930
Versus the national median
+3.6%

U.S. median $93,250. Colorado pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.90×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Colorado

Fort Collins-Loveland, CO
$105,700median
50 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+2.2%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
1,900
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
600
25,400 → 26,000
Typical entry education
Doctoral or professional degree

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

Reading ComprehensionWritingSpeakingLearning StrategiesActive LearningScience

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Colorado

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 Colorado.

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 277 degrees in Colorado in 2024-25, 85.2% 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 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Chemistry, Teacher Education and Professional Development, Pharmacy, Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences. Together they graduate about 325 people a year in Colorado.

How much do chemistry teachers, postsecondary earn in Colorado?+

The median is $96,600 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 3.6% 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 Colorado?+

21 institutions in Colorado reported graduates from at least one of the 6 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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, 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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