Nebraska·Educational Instruction and Library Occupations·SOC 25-1126

Best Philosophy programs in Nebraska, ranked by enrollment

Teach courses in philosophy, religion, and theology.

9 schools in Nebraska run programs that feed this job, graduating 103 people a year. The job pays a median of $75,280 in Nebraska across about 80 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledProfessorReligion ProfessorAssistant ProfessorPhilosophy ProfessorEducatorInstructorJewish EducatorDivinity Teacher
Graduates / yr
103
in Nebraska
Median pay · Nebraska
$75,280
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
80
people employed
Schools
9
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
56%
across those schools
Median net price
$20,543
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.

9 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 39.0699In Nebraska
27
26.2%
1$32,202$25,375
2
CIP 38.0101In Nebraska
20
19.4%
3$31,618$22,862
3
CIP 39.0401In Nebraska
18
17.5%
1$32,351$25,937
4
CIP 39.0601In Nebraska
16
15.5%
3$32,202$25,375
5
CIP 51.3201In Nebraska
7
6.8%
1$99,851$21,475
6
CIP 39.0201In Nebraska
6
5.8%
3$33,182$25,000
7
CIP 38.0201In Nebraska
4
3.9%
1$26,048$25,612
8
CIP 38.0001In Nebraska
3
2.9%
2
9
CIP 39.0501In Nebraska
2
1.9%
1$30,092$27,000

Top 9 schools in Nebraska

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 9 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Creighton University
Omaha, NE Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs
46Theological and Ministerial Studies, Other83%$27,35380%
2Concordia University - Nebraska
Seward, NE Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
23Religious Education$55,02365%$22,39086%
3University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lincoln, NE Public · 1 feeder programs
13Philosophy67%87%
4Union Adventist University
Lincoln, NE Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
8Theology/Theological Studies52%$20,543100%
5University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, NE Public · 2 feeder programs
5Religion/Religious Studies47%87%
6York University
York, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Bible/Biblical Studies52%$19,34652%
7Nebraska Wesleyan University
Lincoln, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Philosophy and Religious Studies, General66%$22,22580%
8Hastings College
Hastings, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Philosophy and Religious Studies, General49%$20,42472%
9Summit Christian College
Gering, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Bible/Biblical Studies25%$18,18842%

All 9 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
Creighton UniversityOmahaPrivate not-for-profit464
Concordia University - NebraskaSewardPrivate not-for-profit233
University of Nebraska - LincolnLincolnPublic131
Union Adventist UniversityLincolnPrivate not-for-profit82
University of Nebraska at OmahaOmahaPublic52
York UniversityYorkPrivate not-for-profit41
Nebraska Wesleyan UniversityLincolnPrivate not-for-profit21
Hastings CollegeHastingsPrivate not-for-profit11
Summit Christian CollegeGeringPrivate not-for-profit11

What philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary earn in Nebraska

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

Median annual in Nebraska
$75,280
Mean annual
$76,190
Jobs in state
80
What the range looks like
10th pct$58,350Median$75,28090th pct$100,020
Versus the national median
-6.2%

U.S. median $80,260. Nebraska pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.56×

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

Metro areas in Nebraska

Lincoln, NE
$72,080median
30 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+0.7%
Little or no change
Openings per year
2,000
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
200
27,300 → 27,500
Typical entry education
Doctoral or professional 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 Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary page.

How to become a Philosophy

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

Reading ComprehensionActive ListeningSpeakingCritical ThinkingWritingLearning Strategies

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 25 majors mapped to Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary24 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 30.5101Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
  • 38.0001Philosophy and Religious Studies, General
  • 38.0101Philosophy
  • 38.0103Ethics
  • 38.0104Applied and Professional Ethics
  • 38.0199Philosophy, Other
  • 38.0201Religion/Religious Studies
  • 38.0202Buddhist Studies
  • 38.0203Christian Studies
  • 38.0204Hindu Studies(no graduates reported)
  • 38.0207Talmudic Studies
  • 38.9999Philosophy and Religious Studies, Other
  • 39.0201Bible/Biblical Studies
  • 39.0301Missions/Missionary Studies
  • 39.0401Religious Education
  • 39.0501Religious/Sacred Music
  • 39.0502Worship Ministry
  • 39.0601Theology/Theological Studies
  • 39.0602Divinity/Ministry
  • 39.0604Pre-Theology/Pre-Ministerial Studies
  • 39.0605Rabbinical Studies
  • 39.0699Theological and Ministerial Studies, Other
  • 39.0701Pastoral Studies/Counseling
  • 39.0703Urban Ministry
  • 39.0706Chaplain/Chaplaincy Studies

Common questions

Answers for people weighing philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary programs in Nebraska.

What degree do you need to become a Philosophy?+

Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Theological and Ministerial Studies, Other, which awarded 27 degrees in Nebraska in 2024-25, 26.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Philosophy?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 9 programs to this occupation. The largest are Theological and Ministerial Studies, Philosophy, Religious Education, Health Professions Education, plus 4 more. Together they graduate about 103 people a year in Nebraska.

How much do philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary earn in Nebraska?+

The median is $75,280 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.2% below the U.S. median of $80,260. 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 philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary growing?+

BLS projects a +0.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 2,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

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

9 institutions in Nebraska reported graduates from at least one of the 9 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 philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Religion Professor, Assistant Professor, Philosophy Professor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1126.

Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary in other statesNew YorkVirginiaCaliforniaNew JerseyTexasIllinoisMissouriKentucky

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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