Colorado·Educational Instruction and Library Occupations·SOC 25-2012

Best Kindergarten Teacher programs in Colorado, ranked by enrollment

Teach academic and social skills to kindergarten.

27 schools in Colorado run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,695 people a year. The job pays a median of $62,870 in Colorado across about 3,260 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledTeacherKinder TeacherClassroom TeacherBilingual Kindergarten TeacherEducatorInstructorArt TeacherMontessori Teacher
Graduates / yr
1,695
in Colorado
Median pay · Colorado
$62,870
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
3,260
people employed
Schools
27
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
45%
across those schools
Median net price
$23,447
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.

5 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 13.1210In Colorado
1,524
89.9%
23$41,127$25,500
2
CIP 13.1206In Colorado
87
5.1%
2$41,127$25,500
3
CIP 13.1207In Colorado
39
2.3%
1$41,127$25,500
4
CIP 13.0201In Colorado
38
2.2%
3$56,738$19,664
5
CIP 13.1401In Colorado
7
0.4%
3$36,305$26,250

Top 25 schools in Colorado

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 7 of the 27 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Front Range Community College
Westminster, CO Public · 2 feeder programs
340Early Childhood Education and Teaching$29,74935%
2Community College of Denver
Denver, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
270Early Childhood Education and Teaching$18,39920%
3Pueblo Community College
Pueblo, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
132Early Childhood Education and Teaching$24,96031%
4Red Rocks Community College
Lakewood, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
100Early Childhood Education and Teaching32%
5University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus
Denver, CO Public · 2 feeder programs
100Early Childhood Education and Teaching46%75%
6Pikes Peak State College
Colorado Springs, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
92Early Childhood Education and Teaching21%
7Colorado Mountain College
Glenwood Springs, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
87Early Childhood Education and Teaching27%
8Arapahoe Community College
Littleton, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
70Early Childhood Education and Teaching29%
9Community College of Aurora
Aurora, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
68Early Childhood Education and Teaching33%
10Adams State University
Alamosa, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
67Teacher Education, Multiple Levels39%
11Aims Community College
Greeley, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
65Early Childhood Education and Teaching40%
12University of Northern Colorado
Greeley, CO Public · 2 feeder programs
42Early Childhood Education and Teaching$40,61451%86%
13Montessori Education Center of the Rockies
Denver, CO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
39Montessori Teacher Education83%$13,285100%
14University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
35Early Childhood Education and Teaching$40,19847%97%
15Trinidad State College
Trinidad, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
30Early Childhood Education and Teaching55%
16Metropolitan State University of Denver
Denver, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
22Early Childhood Education and Teaching$40,68132%99%
17Colorado College
Colorado Springs, CO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
20Teacher Education, Multiple Levels88%$23,51018%
18Northeastern Junior College
Sterling, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
19Early Childhood Education and Teaching56%
19Colorado Mesa University
Grand Junction, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
18Early Childhood Education and Teaching41%82%
20Colorado State University - Fort Collins
Fort Collins, CO Public · 2 feeder programs
17Early Childhood Education and Teaching67%89%
21Regis University
Denver, CO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
16Bilingual and Multilingual Education61%$22,40786%
22Morgan Community College
Fort Morgan, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
13Early Childhood Education and Teaching45%
23Colorado Northwestern Community College
Rangely, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
12Early Childhood Education and Teaching34%
24Colorado Christian University
Lakewood, CO Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
11Early Childhood Education and Teaching$40,44864%$23,447
25Colorado State University Pueblo
Pueblo, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
4Early Childhood Education and Teaching40%95%

All 27 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
Front Range Community CollegeWestminsterPublic3402
Community College of DenverDenverPublic2701
Pueblo Community CollegePuebloPublic1321
Red Rocks Community CollegeLakewoodPublic1001
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical CampusDenverPublic1002
Pikes Peak State CollegeColorado SpringsPublic921
Colorado Mountain CollegeGlenwood SpringsPublic871
Arapahoe Community CollegeLittletonPublic701
Community College of AuroraAuroraPublic681
Adams State UniversityAlamosaPublic671
Aims Community CollegeGreeleyPublic651
University of Northern ColoradoGreeleyPublic422
Montessori Education Center of the RockiesDenverPrivate not-for-profit391
University of Colorado Colorado SpringsColorado SpringsPublic351
Trinidad State CollegeTrinidadPublic301

What kindergarten teachers earn in Colorado

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

Median annual in Colorado
$62,870
Mean annual
$68,150
Jobs in state
3,260
What the range looks like
10th pct$47,300Median$62,87090th pct$97,710
Versus the national median
+0.3%

U.S. median $62,680. Colorado pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.62×

Concentrated here: Colorado employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Colorado

Boulder, CO
$79,150median
200 jobs
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
$74,960median
1,610 jobs
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO
$61,600median
180 jobs
Pueblo, CO
$61,990median
100 jobs
Greeley, CO
$59,580median
210 jobs
Grand Junction, CO
$52,850median
80 jobs
Colorado Springs, CO
$59,830median
390 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-1.6%
Decline
Openings per year
12,800
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-1,900
117,200 → 115,200
Typical entry education
Bachelor's 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 Kindergarten Teachers page.

How to become a Kindergarten Teacher

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

MonitoringActive ListeningLearning StrategiesSpeakingReading ComprehensionWriting

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 10 majors mapped to Kindergarten Teachers8 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 13.0201Bilingual and Multilingual Education
  • 13.1206Teacher Education, Multiple Levels
  • 13.1207Montessori Teacher Education
  • 13.1208Waldorf/Steiner Teacher Education(no graduates reported)
  • 13.1209Kindergarten/Preschool Education and Teaching
  • 13.1210Early Childhood Education and Teaching
  • 13.1212International Teaching and Learning
  • 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

Common questions

Answers for people weighing kindergarten teachers programs in Colorado.

What degree do you need to become a Kindergarten Teacher?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Early Childhood Education and Teaching, which awarded 1,524 degrees in Colorado in 2024-25, 89.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Kindergarten Teacher?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Teacher Education and Professional Development, Bilingual, Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language. Together they graduate about 1,695 people a year in Colorado.

How much do kindergarten teachers earn in Colorado?+

The median is $62,870 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.3% above the U.S. median of $62,680. 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 kindergarten teachers growing?+

BLS projects a -1.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 12,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Colorado?+

27 institutions in Colorado 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.

What other job titles do kindergarten teachers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Teacher, Kinder Teacher, Classroom Teacher, Bilingual Kindergarten Teacher among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-2012.

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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