Best Elementary School Teacher programs in Iowa, ranked by enrollment
Teach academic and social skills to students at the elementary school.
43 schools in Iowa run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,583 people a year. The job pays a median of $60,580 in Iowa across about 17,300 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Iowa that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
4 programs in Iowa that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Iowa (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 Iowa page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 13.1202In Iowa → | 1,342 | 84.8% | 41 | $41,127 | $25,500 |
| 2 | CIP 13.1210In Iowa → | 184 | 11.6% | 16 | $41,127 | $25,500 |
| 3 | CIP 13.1401In Iowa → | 33 | 2.1% | 5 | $36,305 | $26,250 |
| 4 | CIP 13.1206In Iowa → | 24 | 1.5% | 4 | $41,127 | $25,500 |
Top 25 schools in Iowa
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 22 of the 43 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA Public · 3 feeder programs | 371 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $42,790 | 68% | — | 93% |
| 2 | Iowa State University Ames, IA Public · 3 feeder programs | 190 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $45,512 | 75% | — | 89% |
| 3 | University of Iowa Iowa City, IA Public · 2 feeder programs | 130 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $45,015 | 75% | — | 84% |
| 4 | Buena Vista University Storm Lake, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 96 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $42,834 | 62% | $17,609 | 78% |
| 5 | Northwestern College Orange City, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 85 | Early Childhood Education and Teaching | $42,441 | 66% | $22,419 | 80% |
| 6 | Morningside University Sioux City, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 64 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $48,478 | 50% | $22,816 | 71% |
| 7 | William Penn University Oskaloosa, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 53 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $40,049 | 33% | $21,533 | 52% |
| 8 | Southeastern Community College West Burlington, IA Public · 2 feeder programs | 44 | Early Childhood Education and Teaching | — | 43% | — | — |
| 9 | Upper Iowa University Fayette, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 43 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $41,802 | 34% | $22,697 | 96% |
| 10 | Des Moines Area Community College Ankeny, IA Public · 1 feeder programs | 41 | Elementary Education and Teaching | — | 39% | — | — |
| 11 | Saint Ambrose University Davenport, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 37 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $41,178 | 61% | $21,680 | 77% |
| 12 | Dordt University Sioux Center, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 27 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $39,749 | 70% | $24,569 | 68% |
| 13 | Clarke University Dubuque, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $42,204 | 56% | $21,417 | 72% |
| 14 | Grand View University Des Moines, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $46,547 | 54% | $20,840 | 99% |
| 15 | University of Dubuque Dubuque, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $38,602 | 40% | $21,324 | 89% |
| 16 | Southwestern Community College Creston, IA Public · 2 feeder programs | 23 | Early Childhood Education and Teaching | — | 59% | — | — |
| 17 | Waldorf University Forest City, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 23 | Elementary Education and Teaching | — | 21% | $22,328 | 77% |
| 18 | Indian Hills Community College Ottumwa, IA Public · 2 feeder programs | 19 | Elementary Education and Teaching | — | 40% | — | — |
| 19 | Cornell College Mount Vernon, IA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 18 | Teacher Education, Multiple Levels | $42,756 | 62% | $23,073 | 80% |
| 20 | Graceland University - Lamoni Lamoni, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $36,563 | 42% | $16,430 | 81% |
| 21 | Drake University Des Moines, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $41,630 | 74% | $28,855 | 64% |
| 22 | Iowa Central Community College Fort Dodge, IA Public · 2 feeder programs | 17 | Elementary Education and Teaching | — | 42% | — | — |
| 23 | Mount Mercy University Cedar Rapids, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $43,810 | 58% | $23,054 | 83% |
| 24 | Central College Pella, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $44,000 | 66% | $19,732 | 86% |
| 25 | Loras College Dubuque, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Elementary Education and Teaching | $40,328 | 68% | $19,227 | 100% |
All 43 schools in Iowa
Every school in Iowa 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 Northern Iowa | Cedar Falls | Public | 371 | 3 |
| Iowa State University | Ames | Public | 190 | 3 |
| University of Iowa | Iowa City | Public | 130 | 2 |
| Buena Vista University | Storm Lake | Private not-for-profit | 96 | 2 |
| Northwestern College | Orange City | Private not-for-profit | 85 | 2 |
| Morningside University | Sioux City | Private not-for-profit | 64 | 2 |
| William Penn University | Oskaloosa | Private not-for-profit | 53 | 1 |
| Southeastern Community College | West Burlington | Public | 44 | 2 |
| Upper Iowa University | Fayette | Private not-for-profit | 43 | 2 |
| Des Moines Area Community College | Ankeny | Public | 41 | 1 |
| Saint Ambrose University | Davenport | Private not-for-profit | 37 | 2 |
| Dordt University | Sioux Center | Private not-for-profit | 27 | 2 |
| Clarke University | Dubuque | Private not-for-profit | 25 | 1 |
| Grand View University | Des Moines | Private not-for-profit | 24 | 1 |
| University of Dubuque | Dubuque | Private not-for-profit | 24 | 1 |
What elementary school teachers earn in Iowa
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $63,970. Iowa pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Iowa employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Iowa
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 Elementary School Teachers page.
How to become a Elementary School 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
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Iowa
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 15 majors mapped to Elementary School Teachers13 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.0201Bilingual and Multilingual Education
- 13.1202Elementary Education and Teaching
- 13.1206Teacher Education, Multiple Levels
- 13.1207Montessori Teacher Education
- 13.1208Waldorf/Steiner Teacher Education(no graduates reported)
- 13.1210Early Childhood Education and Teaching
- 13.1211Online Educator/Online Teaching
- 13.1212International Teaching and Learning
- 13.1213Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Educational Methods
- 13.1338Environmental Education
- 13.1339Communication Arts and Literature Teacher Education
- 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
- 45.0199Social Sciences, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing elementary school teachers programs in Iowa.
What degree do you need to become an Elementary School Teacher?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Elementary Education and Teaching, which awarded 1,342 degrees in Iowa in 2024-25, 84.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Elementary School Teacher?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Teacher Education and Professional Development, Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language. Together they graduate about 1,583 people a year in Iowa.
How much do elementary school teachers earn in Iowa?+
The median is $60,580 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 5.3% below the U.S. median of $63,970. 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 elementary school teachers growing?+
BLS projects a -2.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 91,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Iowa?+
43 institutions in Iowa reported graduates from at least one of the 4 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 elementary school teachers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Teacher, Classroom Teacher, Elementary Teacher, Elementary School Teacher among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-2021.
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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