Nebraska·Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations·SOC 27-2022

Best Coach programs in Nebraska, ranked by enrollment

Instruct or coach groups or individuals in the fundamentals of sports for the primary purpose of competition. Demonstrate techniques and methods of participation.

14 schools in Nebraska run programs that feed this job, graduating 270 people a year. The job pays a median of $47,810 in Nebraska across about 1,180 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledCoachFootball CoachBasketball CoachTrack and Field CoachSki CoachGolf CoachSwim CoachTrack Coach
Graduates / yr
270
in Nebraska
Median pay · Nebraska
$47,810
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,180
people employed
Schools
14
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
52%
across those schools
Median net price
$22,390
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Nebraska that lead to this job

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

3 programs in Nebraska that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Nebraska (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 Nebraska page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 31.0504In Nebraska
122
45.2%
7$30,426$25,643
2
CIP 13.1314In Nebraska
89
33.0%
10$43,033$26,044
3
CIP 31.0501In Nebraska
59
21.9%
6$30,426$25,643

Top 14 schools in Nebraska

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 7 of the 14 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of Nebraska at Kearney
Kearney, NE Public · 2 feeder programs
56Physical Education Teaching and Coaching$42,00158%89%
2Bellevue University
Bellevue, NE Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
48Sport and Fitness Administration/Management$33,22933%$29,230
3Midland University
Fremont, NE Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
43Sport and Fitness Administration/Management$31,47542%$23,16266%
4Wayne State College
Wayne, NE Public · 2 feeder programs
37Physical Education Teaching and Coaching$42,58952%
5Nebraska Wesleyan University
Lincoln, NE Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
26Sport and Fitness Administration/Management$28,79166%$22,22580%
6Concordia University - Nebraska
Seward, NE Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
19Sport and Fitness Administration/Management65%$22,39086%
7Northeast Community College
Norfolk, NE Public · 2 feeder programs
11Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, General56%
8University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
10Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, General$40,68347%87%
9Creighton University
Omaha, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
7Sport and Fitness Administration/Management83%$27,35380%
10Peru State College
Peru, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
5Physical Education Teaching and Coaching38%
11York University
York, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
3Physical Education Teaching and Coaching52%$19,34652%
12Chadron State College
Chadron, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
2Physical Education Teaching and Coaching$46,82450%
13Hastings College
Hastings, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Physical Education Teaching and Coaching49%$20,42472%
14Western Nebraska Community College
Scottsbluff, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
1Physical Education Teaching and Coaching37%

All 14 schools in Nebraska

Every school in Nebraska 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 Nebraska that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of Nebraska at KearneyKearneyPublic562
Bellevue UniversityBellevuePrivate not-for-profit482
Midland UniversityFremontPrivate not-for-profit433
Wayne State CollegeWaynePublic372
Nebraska Wesleyan UniversityLincolnPrivate not-for-profit263
Concordia University - NebraskaSewardPrivate not-for-profit192
Northeast Community CollegeNorfolkPublic112
University of Nebraska at OmahaOmahaPublic101
Creighton UniversityOmahaPrivate not-for-profit71
Peru State CollegePeruPublic51
York UniversityYorkPrivate not-for-profit31
Chadron State CollegeChadronPublic21
Hastings CollegeHastingsPrivate not-for-profit21
Western Nebraska Community CollegeScottsbluffPublic11

What coaches and scouts earn in Nebraska

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

Median annual in Nebraska
$47,810
Mean annual
$59,640
Jobs in state
1,180
What the range looks like
10th pct$28,940Median$47,81090th pct$94,920
Versus the national median
+1.0%

U.S. median $47,320. Nebraska pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.72×

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

Metro areas in Nebraska

Lincoln, NE
$55,240median
280 jobs
Omaha, NE-IA
$40,410median
670 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+6.4%
Faster than average
Openings per year
41,800
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
19,500
306,500 → 326,000
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 Coaches and Scouts page.

How to become a Coach

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

SpeakingLearning StrategiesMonitoringReading ComprehensionActive ListeningCritical Thinking

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in Nebraska

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 4 majors mapped to Coaches and Scouts4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 13.1314Physical Education Teaching and Coaching
  • 31.0501Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, General
  • 31.0504Sport and Fitness Administration/Management
  • 42.2815Performance and Sport Psychology

Common questions

Answers for people weighing coaches and scouts programs in Nebraska.

What degree do you need to become a Coach?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Sport and Fitness Administration/Management, which awarded 122 degrees in Nebraska in 2024-25, 45.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Coach?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Sports, Teacher Education and Professional Development. Together they graduate about 270 people a year in Nebraska.

How much do coaches and scouts earn in Nebraska?+

The median is $47,810 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 1.0% above the U.S. median of $47,320. 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 coaches and scouts growing?+

BLS projects a +6.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 41,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

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

14 institutions in Nebraska 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 coaches and scouts work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Coach, Football Coach, Basketball Coach, Track and Field Coach among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-2022.

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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