Best degree programs for Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors, ranked by enrollment
7 college programs and 418 schools train Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $61,540 median wage, 37,310 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
7 college programs at 418 schools train adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors, graduating 8,237 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor. The job pays a median of $61,540 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors
Teach or instruct out-of-school youths and adults in basic education, literacy, or English as a Second Language classes, or in classes for earning a high school equivalency credential.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
7 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 13.1401 | 5,419 | 65.8% | 325 | $36,305 | $26,250 |
| 2 | CIP 13.1201 | 942 | 11.4% | 67 | $41,127 | $25,500 |
| 3 | CIP 13.0201 | 797 | 9.7% | 83 | $56,738 | $19,664 |
| 4 | CIP 13.0299 | 544 | 6.6% | 8 | $56,738 | $19,664 |
| 5 | CIP 13.0202 | 480 | 5.8% | 41 | $56,738 | $19,664 |
| 6 | CIP 13.1499 | 39 | 0.5% | 8 | $36,305 | $26,250 |
| 7 | CIP 13.1502 | 16 | 0.2% | 4 | $22,920 | $9,500 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $78,010 | 2,810 | 1.21× | 42 | 1,217 |
| Indiana | $58,660 | 650 | 0.85× | 13 | 719 |
| Utah | $49,680 | 60 | 0.13× | 6 | 521 |
| Idahomoderate | $50,040 | 270 | 1.31× | 4 | 454 |
| Michigan | $59,900 | 560 | 0.53× | 13 | 377 |
| California | $102,030 | 1,660 | 0.38× | 22 | 338 |
| Arizona | $61,750 | 570 | 0.74× | 6 | 335 |
| Pennsylvania | $57,230 | 790 | 0.54× | 30 | 334 |
| Illinois | $62,370 | 1,970 | 1.34× | 24 | 282 |
| Oregon | $65,700 | 510 | 1.08× | 6 | 252 |
| Texas | $49,490 | 1,830 | 0.54× | 20 | 225 |
| Minnesota | $76,800 | 2,880 | 4.06× | 18 | 209 |
| Massachusetts | $62,290 | 1,420 | 1.63× | 15 | 203 |
| New Jersey | $81,100 | 1,350 | 1.31× | 8 | 182 |
| Georgia | $47,540 | 470 | 0.40× | 9 | 180 |
| Virginia | $64,540 | 700 | 0.71× | 11 | 164 |
| Nevadamoderate | $48,930 | 40 | 0.12× | 3 | 155 |
| Ohio | $47,190 | 750 | 0.56× | 13 | 155 |
| Alabama | $48,870 | 470 | 0.92× | 7 | 132 |
| North Carolina | $51,810 | 3,720 | 3.14× | 7 | 105 |
| Maryland | $59,950 | 450 | 0.67× | 6 | 104 |
| Tennessee | $60,340 | 240 | 0.30× | 12 | 102 |
| Mainelimited | $58,880 | 330 | 2.13× | 1 | 100 |
| Colorado | $51,170 | 820 | 1.19× | 8 | 94 |
| Oklahoma | $51,840 | 300 | 0.72× | 6 | 91 |
| Nebraska | $49,040 | 130 | 0.52× | 5 | 86 |
| Arkansas | $43,240 | 230 | 0.72× | 6 | 85 |
| Florida | $58,920 | 3,670 | 1.54× | 9 | 84 |
| Iowa | $48,010 | 370 | 0.98× | 7 | 80 |
| Missouri | $51,770 | 620 | 0.88× | 10 | 77 |
| Washington | $69,990 | 1,310 | 1.54× | 7 | 77 |
| Kentucky | $44,990 | 350 | 0.72× | 7 | 74 |
| New Hampshirelimited | $64,440 | 50 | 0.31× | 1 | 72 |
| Hawaiimoderate | $44,600 | 300 | 1.97× | 3 | 61 |
| Connecticut | $72,180 | 410 | 1.00× | 6 | 60 |
| Kansaslimited | $52,030 | 160 | 0.47× | 2 | 57 |
| Rhode Islandlimited | $57,690 | — | — | 2 | 51 |
| Louisiana | $66,870 | 100 | 0.21× | 6 | 43 |
| Wisconsin | $64,980 | 1,050 | 1.49× | 6 | 38 |
| Delawarelimited | $78,600 | 200 | 1.70× | 2 | 36 |
| New Mexicomoderate | $49,170 | 210 | 1.00× | 4 | 19 |
| Mississippilimited | $49,900 | 240 | 0.87× | 2 | 16 |
| North Dakotalimited | $63,820 | 180 | 1.75× | 2 | 12 |
| Vermontlimited | $62,500 | 70 | 0.89× | 1 | 11 |
| Montanalimited | $56,500 | 110 | 0.90× | 2 | 9 |
| South Carolinamoderate | $62,940 | 480 | 0.88× | 3 | 9 |
| Wyominglimited | $52,060 | 100 | 1.41× | 1 | 5 |
| District of Columbialimited | $62,940 | 570 | 3.36× | 1 | 4 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Observe and evaluate students' work to determine progress and make suggestions for improvement.
- Observe students to determine qualifications, limitations, abilities, interests, and other individual characteristics.
- Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects and communicate those objectives to students.
- Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs, abilities, and interests.
- Prepare students for further education by encouraging them to explore learning opportunities and to persevere with challenging tasks.
- Prepare materials and classrooms for class activities.
- Instruct students individually and in groups, using various teaching methods, such as lectures, discussions, and demonstrations.
- Plan and conduct activities for a balanced program of instruction, demonstration, and work time that provides students with opportunities to observe, question, and investigate.
Skills
- Reading Comprehension3.8
- Active Listening3.8
- Speaking3.8
- Learning Strategies3.8
- Writing3.6
- Monitoring3.6
- Critical Thinking3.5
- Active Learning3.5
Knowledge areas
- English Language4.4
- Education and Training3.9
- Customer and Personal Service3.5
- Administrative3.2
- Administration and Management2.9
- Mathematics2.8
Abilities
- Oral Expression4.3
- Written Expression4.0
- Written Comprehension4.0
- Oral Comprehension3.9
- Speech Clarity3.9
- Speech Recognition3.8
Core activities
- Thinking Creatively4.1
- Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others4.0
- Coaching and Developing Others3.8
- Training and Teaching Others3.8
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems3.8
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates3.8
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Adult Basic Education
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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 8 majors mapped to Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors7 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.0201Bilingual and Multilingual Education
- 13.0202Multicultural Education
- 13.0299Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education, Other
- 13.1201Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching
- 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
- 13.1502Adult Literacy Tutor/Instructor
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become an Adult Basic Education?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor, which awarded 5,419 degrees in 2024-25, 65.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Adult Basic Education?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 7 programs to this occupation. The largest are Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language, Bilingual, Teacher Education and Professional Development, Teaching Assistants/Aides. Together they graduate about 8,237 people a year.
How much do adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors earn?+
The median is $61,540 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $41,810 at the 10th percentile to $98,030 at the 90th. 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 adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors growing?+
BLS projects a -13.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 3,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
418 institutions 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 adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Teacher, Adult Basic Education Instructor (ABE Instructor), ESL Instructor (English as a Second Language Instructor), GED Instructor (General Educational Development Instructor) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-3011.
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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