Best Physics Teacher, Postsecondary programs in Colorado, ranked by enrollment
Teach courses pertaining to the laws of matter and energy.
17 schools in Colorado run programs that feed this job, graduating 292 people a year. The job pays a median of $99,280 in Colorado across about 280 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
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.
3 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.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 40.0801In Colorado → | 272 | 93.2% | 16 | $47,156 | $23,490 |
| 2 | CIP 13.1316In Colorado → | 16 | 5.5% | 3 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 3 | CIP 40.0508In Colorado → | 4 | 1.4% | 1 | $42,620 | $23,900 |
Top 17 schools in Colorado
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 17 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 151 | Physics, General | $41,874 | 74% | — | 78% |
| 2 | Colorado State University - Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Physics, General | $51,927 | 67% | — | 89% |
| 3 | University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Physics, General | — | 46% | — | 75% |
| 4 | Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 23 | Physics, General | — | 82% | — | 61% |
| 5 | University of Northern Colorado Greeley, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 17 | Physics, General | $34,373 | 51% | — | 86% |
| 6 | Colorado College Colorado Springs, CO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Physics, General | — | 88% | $23,510 | 18% |
| 7 | United States Air Force Academy USAF Academy, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Physics, General | — | 88% | — | 14% |
| 8 | University of Colorado Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Physics, General | — | 47% | — | 97% |
| 9 | University of Denver Denver, CO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Physics, General | — | 76% | $29,726 | 78% |
| 10 | Regis University Denver, CO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Physics, General | — | 61% | $22,407 | 86% |
| 11 | Colorado Mesa University Grand Junction, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Physics, General | — | 41% | — | 82% |
| 12 | Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Physics, General | — | 32% | — | 99% |
| 13 | Community College of Aurora Aurora, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Physics, General | — | 33% | — | — |
| 14 | Fort Lewis College Durango, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Physics, General | — | 36% | — | 77% |
| 15 | Front Range Community College Westminster, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Physics, General | — | 35% | — | — |
| 16 | Northeastern Junior College Sterling, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Science Teacher Education/General Science Teacher Education | — | 56% | — | — |
| 17 | Pikes Peak State College Colorado Springs, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Physics, General | — | 21% | — | — |
All 17 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.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Colorado Boulder | Boulder | Public | 151 | 2 |
| Colorado State University - Fort Collins | Fort Collins | Public | 28 | 1 |
| University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus | Denver | Public | 25 | 1 |
| Colorado School of Mines | Golden | Public | 23 | 2 |
| University of Northern Colorado | Greeley | Public | 17 | 2 |
| Colorado College | Colorado Springs | Private not-for-profit | 12 | 1 |
| United States Air Force Academy | USAF Academy | Public | 9 | 1 |
| University of Colorado Colorado Springs | Colorado Springs | Public | 9 | 1 |
| University of Denver | Denver | Private not-for-profit | 6 | 1 |
| Regis University | Denver | Private not-for-profit | 3 | 1 |
| Colorado Mesa University | Grand Junction | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Metropolitan State University of Denver | Denver | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Community College of Aurora | Aurora | Public | 1 | 1 |
| Fort Lewis College | Durango | Public | 1 | 1 |
| Front Range Community College | Westminster | Public | 1 | 1 |
What physics teachers, postsecondary earn in Colorado
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $100,310. Colorado pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Colorado
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 Physics Teachers, Postsecondary page.
How to become a Physics 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 Colorado
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 16 majors mapped to Physics Teachers, Postsecondary15 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.1316Science Teacher Education/General Science Teacher Education
- 13.1329Physics Teacher Education
- 40.0299Astronomy and Astrophysics, Other
- 40.0508Chemical Physics
- 40.0801Physics, General
- 40.0802Atomic/Molecular Physics
- 40.0804Elementary Particle Physics
- 40.0805Plasma and High-Temperature Physics(no graduates reported)
- 40.0806Nuclear Physics
- 40.0807Optics/Optical Sciences
- 40.0808Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
- 40.0809Acoustics
- 40.0810Theoretical and Mathematical Physics
- 40.0899Physics, Other
- 40.1101Physics and Astronomy
- 51.2205Health/Medical Physics
Common questions
Answers for people weighing physics teachers, postsecondary programs in Colorado.
What degree do you need to become a Physics 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 Physics, General, which awarded 272 degrees in Colorado in 2024-25, 93.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Physics Teacher, Postsecondary?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Physics, Teacher Education and Professional Development, Chemistry. Together they graduate about 292 people a year in Colorado.
How much do physics teachers, postsecondary earn in Colorado?+
The median is $99,280 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 1.0% below the U.S. median of $100,310. 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 physics teachers, postsecondary growing?+
BLS projects a +2.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 1,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Colorado?+
17 institutions in Colorado 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 physics teachers, postsecondary work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Instructor, Physics Professor, Physics Instructor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1054.
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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