Best Preschool Teacher programs in New York, ranked by enrollment
Instruct preschool-aged students, following curricula or lesson plans, in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual.
72 schools in New York run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,879 people a year. The job pays a median of $46,520 in New York across about 23,870 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in New York that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
7 programs in New York that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in New York (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 New York page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Early Childhood Education and Teachingmain feeder CIP 13.1210In New York → | 1,027 | 35.7% | 32 | $41,127 | $25,500 |
| 2 | CIP 13.1401In New York → | 852 | 29.6% | 37 | $36,305 | $26,250 |
| 3 | Teacher Education, Multiple Levelsmain feeder CIP 13.1206In New York → | 498 | 17.3% | 8 | $41,127 | $25,500 |
| 4 | Bilingual and Multilingual Educationmain feeder CIP 13.0201In New York → | 268 | 9.3% | 26 | $56,738 | $19,664 |
| 5 | CIP 19.0708In New York → | 222 | 7.7% | 18 | $31,642 | $23,092 |
| 6 | CIP 19.0706In New York → | 10 | 0.3% | 3 | $31,642 | $23,092 |
| 7 | CIP 13.1209In New York → | 2 | 0.1% | 1 | $41,127 | $25,500 |
Top 25 schools in New York
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 13 of the 72 schools in this state.
All 72 schools in New York
Every school in New York 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relay Graduate School of Education | New York | Private not-for-profit | 400 | 1 |
| Bryant & Stratton College - Online | Orchard Park | Private not-for-profit | 306 | 1 |
| CUNY City College | New York | Public | 201 | 3 |
| CUNY Brooklyn College | Brooklyn | Public | 191 | 2 |
| Mercy University | Dobbs Ferry | Private not-for-profit | 154 | 3 |
| CUNY Queens College | Queens | Public | 137 | 3 |
| CUNY Hunter College | New York | Public | 122 | 3 |
| New York University | New York | Private not-for-profit | 82 | 2 |
| Teachers College at Columbia University | New York | Private not-for-profit | 73 | 3 |
| Pace University | New York | Private not-for-profit | 72 | 2 |
| Hofstra University | Hempstead | Private not-for-profit | 62 | 3 |
| SUNY Brockport | Brockport | Public | 61 | 2 |
| CUNY Lehman College | Bronx | Public | 58 | 3 |
| Boricua College | New York | Private not-for-profit | 54 | 1 |
| Fordham University | Bronx | Private not-for-profit | 53 | 3 |
What preschool teachers earn in New York
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $38,140. New York pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in New York
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 Preschool Teachers page.
How to become a Preschool Teacher
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Associate's degree
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in New York
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 12 majors mapped to Preschool Teachers10 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
- 19.0706Child Development
- 19.0708Child Care and Support Services Management
Common questions
Answers for people weighing preschool teachers programs in New York.
What degree do you need to become a Preschool Teacher?+
Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Early Childhood Education and Teaching, which awarded 1,027 degrees in New York in 2024-25, 35.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Preschool Teacher?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 7 programs to this occupation. The largest are Teacher Education and Professional Development, Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language, Bilingual, Human Development. Together they graduate about 2,879 people a year in New York.
How much do preschool teachers earn in New York?+
The median is $46,520 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 22.0% above the U.S. median of $38,140. 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 preschool teachers growing?+
BLS projects a +4.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 65,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in New York?+
72 institutions in New York reported graduates from at least one of the 7 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 preschool teachers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Teacher, Toddler Teacher, Montessori Preschool Teacher, Pre-Kindergarten Teacher (Pre-K Teacher) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-2011.
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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