Best Kindergarten Teacher programs in Kentucky, ranked by enrollment
Teach academic and social skills to kindergarten.
12 schools in Kentucky run programs that feed this job, graduating 397 people a year. The job pays a median of $60,280 in Kentucky across about 2,450 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Kentucky that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
6 programs in Kentucky that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Kentucky (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 Kentucky page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 13.1206In Kentucky → | 160 | 40.3% | 6 | $41,127 | $25,500 |
| 2 | CIP 13.1210In Kentucky → | 154 | 38.8% | 7 | $41,127 | $25,500 |
| 3 | CIP 13.1401In Kentucky → | 31 | 7.8% | 5 | $36,305 | $26,250 |
| 4 | CIP 13.1207In Kentucky → | 24 | 6.0% | 1 | $41,127 | $25,500 |
| 5 | CIP 13.1209In Kentucky → | 16 | 4.0% | 1 | $41,127 | $25,500 |
| 6 | CIP 13.1499In Kentucky → | 12 | 3.0% | 1 | $36,305 | $26,250 |
Top 12 schools in Kentucky
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 9 of the 12 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY Public · 3 feeder programs | 82 | Teacher Education, Multiple Levels | $37,288 | 56% | — | 94% |
| 2 | University of the Cumberlands Williamsburg, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 57 | Early Childhood Education and Teaching | $35,470 | 50% | $11,672 | 99% |
| 3 | Murray State University Murray, KY Public · 3 feeder programs | 53 | Teacher Education, Multiple Levels | $36,871 | 61% | — | 86% |
| 4 | Campbellsville University Campbellsville, KY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 52 | Early Childhood Education and Teaching | $36,469 | 42% | $18,824 | 80% |
| 5 | University of Louisville Louisville, KY Public · 3 feeder programs | 51 | Teacher Education, Multiple Levels | $41,672 | 61% | — | 79% |
| 6 | Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 39 | Teacher Education, Multiple Levels | $37,366 | 50% | — | 78% |
| 7 | Asbury University Wilmore, KY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 19 | Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor | — | 65% | $19,816 | 63% |
| 8 | Northern Kentucky University Highland Heights, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Kindergarten/Preschool Education and Teaching | $38,059 | 52% | — | 68% |
| 9 | University of Kentucky Lexington, KY Public · 2 feeder programs | 12 | Early Childhood Education and Teaching | $41,312 | 71% | — | 93% |
| 10 | Union Commonwealth University Barbourville, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Teacher Education, Multiple Levels | — | 32% | $28,386 | 63% |
| 11 | Morehead State University Morehead, KY Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Early Childhood Education and Teaching | $36,198 | 52% | — | 77% |
| 12 | The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Louisville, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor | — | 40% | — | 56% |
All 12 schools in Kentucky
Every school in Kentucky 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Kentucky University | Bowling Green | Public | 82 | 3 |
| University of the Cumberlands | Williamsburg | Private not-for-profit | 57 | 1 |
| Murray State University | Murray | Public | 53 | 3 |
| Campbellsville University | Campbellsville | Private not-for-profit | 52 | 2 |
| University of Louisville | Louisville | Public | 51 | 3 |
| Eastern Kentucky University | Richmond | Public | 39 | 1 |
| Asbury University | Wilmore | Private not-for-profit | 19 | 2 |
| Northern Kentucky University | Highland Heights | Public | 16 | 1 |
| University of Kentucky | Lexington | Public | 12 | 2 |
| Union Commonwealth University | Barbourville | Private not-for-profit | 8 | 1 |
| Morehead State University | Morehead | Public | 4 | 1 |
| The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary | Louisville | Private not-for-profit | 4 | 1 |
What kindergarten teachers earn in Kentucky
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $62,680. Kentucky pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Kentucky employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Kentucky
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 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
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Kentucky
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 Kentucky.
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 Teacher Education, Multiple Levels, which awarded 160 degrees in Kentucky in 2024-25, 40.3% 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 6 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 397 people a year in Kentucky.
How much do kindergarten teachers earn in Kentucky?+
The median is $60,280 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 3.8% below 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 Kentucky?+
12 institutions in Kentucky 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 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 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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