Best degree programs for Physics Teachers, Postsecondary, ranked by enrollment
15 college programs and 895 schools train Physics Teachers, Postsecondary. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $100,310 median wage, 13,090 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
15 college programs at 895 schools train physics teachers, postsecondary, graduating 14,835 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Physics, General. The job pays a median of $100,310 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About physics teachers, postsecondary
Teach courses pertaining to the laws of matter and energy. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.
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.
15 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 40.0801 | 12,137 | 81.8% | 800 | $47,156 | $23,490 |
| 2 | CIP 13.1316 | 1,021 | 6.9% | 160 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 3 | CIP 40.0899 | 470 | 3.2% | 52 | $47,156 | $23,490 |
| 4 | CIP 51.2205 | 332 | 2.2% | 37 | $36,762 | $25,076 |
| 5 | CIP 40.0807 | 266 | 1.8% | 15 | $47,156 | $23,490 |
| 6 | CIP 40.0809 | 189 | 1.3% | 7 | $47,156 | $23,490 |
| 7 | CIP 40.0299 | 133 | 0.9% | 12 | $39,728 | $24,678 |
| 8 | CIP 13.1329 | 120 | 0.8% | 39 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 9 | CIP 40.1101 | 58 | 0.4% | 5 | — | — |
| 10 | CIP 40.0508 | 42 | 0.3% | 13 | $42,620 | $23,900 |
| 11 | CIP 40.0810 | 34 | 0.2% | 9 | $47,156 | $23,490 |
| 12 | CIP 40.0802 | 12 | 0.1% | 4 | $47,156 | $23,490 |
| 13 | CIP 40.0804 | 12 | 0.1% | 3 | $47,156 | $23,490 |
| 14 | CIP 40.0808 | 5 | 0.0% | 1 | $47,156 | $23,490 |
| 15 | CIP 40.0806 | 4 | 0.0% | 1 | $47,156 | $23,490 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Western Governors University Salt Lake City, UT Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 317 | Science Teacher Education/General Science Teacher Education | 46% | $11,580 | — |
| 2 | University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 180 | Physics, General | 83% | — | 33% |
| 3 | University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 171 | Physics, General | 93% | — | 11% |
| 4 | New York University New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 153 | Acoustics | 88% | $29,023 | 9% |
| 5 | Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY Public · 4 feeder programs | 151 | Physics, General | 76% | — | 49% |
| 6 | University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 151 | Physics, General | 74% | — | 78% |
| 7 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 148 | Physics, General | 98% | $15,013 | 4% |
| 8 | University of Arizona Tucson, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs | 148 | Optics/Optical Sciences | 68% | — | 86% |
| 9 | University of Rochester Rochester, NY Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 147 | Optics/Optical Sciences | 85% | $25,874 | 40% |
| 10 | University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA Public · 2 feeder programs | 140 | Physics, General | 85% | — | 39% |
| 11 | University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 139 | Physics, General | 93% | — | 9% |
| 12 | Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 135 | Physics, Other | 94% | $11,888 | 6% |
| 13 | University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI Public · 2 feeder programs | 130 | Physics, General | 90% | — | 45% |
| 14 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 126 | Physics, General | 96% | $13,333 | 4% |
| 15 | Michigan State University East Lansing, MI Public · 5 feeder programs | 125 | Physics, General | 81% | — | 85% |
| 16 | The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 122 | Physics, General | 89% | — | 27% |
| 17 | University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD Public · 2 feeder programs | 120 | Physics, General | 89% | — | 45% |
| 18 | University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 119 | Physics, General | 87% | — | 29% |
| 19 | University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 115 | Physics, General | 85% | — | 42% |
| 20 | Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus Atlanta, GA Public · 2 feeder programs | 113 | Physics, General | 94% | — | 14% |
| 21 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 4 feeder programs | 112 | Physics, General | 86% | — | 42% |
| 22 | Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette, IN Public · 2 feeder programs | 110 | Physics, General | 83% | — | 50% |
| 23 | University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 110 | Physics, General | 86% | — | 27% |
| 24 | Brown University Providence, RI Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 109 | Physics, General | 96% | $14,644 | 5% |
| 25 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 109 | Physics, General | 96% | $11,666 | 5% |
| 26 | Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH Public · 3 feeder programs | 106 | Physics, General | 88% | — | 61% |
| 27 | Yale University New Haven, CT Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 103 | Physics, General | 96% | $27,025 | 4% |
| 28 | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI Public · 2 feeder programs | 100 | Physics, General | 93% | — | 16% |
| 29 | Cornell University Ithaca, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 96 | Physics, General | 95% | $17,613 | 9% |
| 30 | Stanford University Stanford, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 95 | Physics, General | 92% | $12,032 | 4% |
| 31 | Princeton University Princeton, NJ Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 93 | Physics, General | 98% | $13,729 | 5% |
| 32 | Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus University Park, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 89 | Physics, General | 86% | — | 61% |
| 33 | Rutgers University - New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ Public · 4 feeder programs | 88 | Physics, General | 84% | — | 58% |
| 34 | University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT Public · 1 feeder programs | 87 | Physics, General | 65% | — | 86% |
| 35 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC Public · 3 feeder programs | 81 | Physics, General | 85% | — | 42% |
| 36 | University of Florida Gainesville, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 81 | Physics, General | 91% | — | 24% |
| 37 | Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 80 | Physics, General | 96% | $15,315 | 4% |
| 38 | Montana State University Bozeman, MT Public · 4 feeder programs | 80 | Science Teacher Education/General Science Teacher Education | 57% | — | 82% |
| 39 | University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA Public · 4 feeder programs | 79 | Physics, General | 85% | — | 58% |
| 40 | Irvine Valley College Irvine, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 78 | Physics, General | 57% | — | — |
| 41 | Oregon State University Corvallis, OR Public · 4 feeder programs | 77 | Health/Medical Physics | 70% | — | 77% |
| 42 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 77 | Physics, General | 97% | $22,055 | 5% |
| 43 | Duke University Durham, NC Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 72 | Physics, Other | 97% | $16,260 | 6% |
| 44 | Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 72 | Physics, General | 84% | — | 57% |
| 45 | Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 71 | Physics, General | 70% | $28,133 | 67% |
| 46 | University of Connecticut Storrs, CT Public · 3 feeder programs | 70 | Physics, General | 83% | — | 52% |
| 47 | University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN Public · 3 feeder programs | 69 | Physics, General | 85% | — | 80% |
| 48 | University of South Florida Tampa, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 69 | Physics, General | 77% | — | 43% |
| 49 | University of Massachusetts - Amherst Amherst, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 68 | Physics, General | 83% | — | 60% |
| 50 | University of New Mexico - Main Campus Albuquerque, NM Public · 3 feeder programs | 67 | Physics, General | 55% | — | 95% |
What physics teachers, postsecondary 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $139,420 | 1,130 | 0.74× | 143 | 3,307 |
| New York | $103,100 | 1,080 | 1.32× | 63 | 1,214 |
| Texas | $97,760 | 1,110 | 0.94× | 48 | 735 |
| Massachusetts | $111,280 | 680 | 2.23× | 33 | 690 |
| Pennsylvania | $98,370 | 580 | 1.13× | 48 | 574 |
| Illinois | $94,900 | 540 | 1.05× | 31 | 540 |
| Utah | $99,860 | 120 | 0.79× | 10 | 512 |
| Florida | $74,050 | 180 | 0.22× | 23 | 431 |
| Ohio | $96,310 | 420 | 0.91× | 35 | 403 |
| North Carolina | $87,370 | 440 | 1.07× | 18 | 394 |
| Michigan | $109,090 | 460 | 1.23× | 24 | 388 |
| Virginia | $104,490 | 610 | 1.75× | 25 | 367 |
| Maryland | $110,980 | 300 | 1.29× | 18 | 365 |
| Georgia | $101,580 | 210 | 0.51× | 18 | 338 |
| Indiana | $102,970 | 270 | 1.02× | 25 | 330 |
| Arizona | $65,730 | 350 | 1.29× | 15 | 325 |
| New Jersey | $98,920 | 530 | 1.46× | 15 | 314 |
| Colorado | $99,280 | 280 | 1.15× | 17 | 292 |
| Minnesota | $107,240 | 250 | 1.00× | 21 | 271 |
| Wisconsin | $89,630 | 210 | 0.85× | 18 | 266 |
| Washington | $96,930 | 310 | 1.04× | 13 | 239 |
| Connecticut | $112,410 | 260 | 1.80× | 9 | 204 |
| Oregon | $104,320 | 230 | 1.42× | 11 | 190 |
| Missouri | $99,970 | 230 | 0.91× | 15 | 156 |
| Tennessee | $80,630 | 340 | 1.25× | 17 | 146 |
| Iowa | $104,270 | 120 | 0.93× | 16 | 139 |
| Alabama | $82,750 | 170 | 0.97× | 10 | 136 |
| New Mexicomoderate | $108,850 | 70 | 1.02× | 4 | 132 |
| Oklahoma | $91,580 | 90 | 0.62× | 15 | 97 |
| Kentucky | $80,270 | 160 | 0.94× | 12 | 95 |
| Montanamoderate | $98,050 | 70 | 1.52× | 4 | 91 |
| Louisiana | $90,040 | 90 | 0.55× | 9 | 90 |
| South Carolina | $81,210 | 150 | 0.77× | 12 | 89 |
| District of Columbia | $85,190 | 130 | 2.25× | 5 | 87 |
| Nebraska | $98,460 | 70 | 0.86× | 12 | 78 |
| Kansas | $97,140 | 110 | 0.88× | 10 | 75 |
| Idaho | $106,040 | 50 | 0.69× | 7 | 70 |
| Arkansas | $64,900 | 30 | 0.30× | 10 | 65 |
| Maine | $104,270 | 60 | 1.08× | 6 | 65 |
| Mississippi | $71,160 | 100 | 0.97× | 7 | 50 |
| New Hampshire | $99,050 | 40 | 0.66× | 6 | 47 |
| Delawaremoderate | $108,810 | 70 | 1.64× | 3 | 44 |
| West Virginiamoderate | $98,320 | 50 | 0.80× | 3 | 43 |
| Nevadalimited | $96,330 | 90 | 0.71× | 2 | 41 |
| Vermontmoderate | $98,390 | 50 | 1.79× | 4 | 34 |
| South Dakota | $86,010 | 30 | 0.89× | 6 | 28 |
| North Dakotalimited | $101,700 | 40 | 0.98× | 2 | 16 |
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
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory work, assignments, and papers.
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as quantum mechanics, particle physics, and optics.
- Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.
- Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work.
- Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
- Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
Skills
- Speaking4.1
- Science4.1
- Reading Comprehension4.1
- Learning Strategies4.0
- Active Learning4.0
- Active Listening4.0
- Critical Thinking4.0
- Writing4.0
Knowledge areas
- Mathematics4.8
- Physics4.5
- Education and Training4.4
- English Language4.2
- Computers and Electronics3.9
- Chemistry3.4
Abilities
- Oral Expression4.4
- Written Expression4.0
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Written Comprehension4.0
- Mathematical Reasoning3.9
- Deductive Reasoning3.9
Core activities
- Training and Teaching Others4.7
- Working with Computers4.6
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge4.5
- Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others4.5
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.4
- Analyzing Data or Information4.4
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Physics Teacher, Postsecondary
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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 16 majors mapped to Physics Teachers, Postsecondary15 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.1316Science Teacher Education/General Science Teacher Education
- 13.1329Physics Teacher Education
- 40.0299Astronomy and Astrophysics, Other
- 40.0508Chemical Physics
- 40.0801Physics, General
- 40.0802Atomic/Molecular Physics
- 40.0804Elementary Particle Physics
- 40.0805Plasma and High-Temperature Physics(no graduates reported)
- 40.0806Nuclear Physics
- 40.0807Optics/Optical Sciences
- 40.0808Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
- 40.0809Acoustics
- 40.0810Theoretical and Mathematical Physics
- 40.0899Physics, Other
- 40.1101Physics and Astronomy
- 51.2205Health/Medical Physics
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 a Physics Teacher, Postsecondary?+
Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Physics, General, which awarded 12,137 degrees in 2024-25, 81.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Physics Teacher, Postsecondary?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 15 programs to this occupation. The largest are Physics, Teacher Education and Professional Development, Public Health, Astronomy and Astrophysics, plus 2 more. Together they graduate about 14,835 people a year.
How much do physics teachers, postsecondary earn?+
The median is $100,310 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $60,200 at the 10th percentile to $177,850 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 physics teachers, postsecondary growing?+
BLS projects a +2.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 1,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
895 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 15 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 physics teachers, postsecondary work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Instructor, Physics Professor, Physics Instructor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1054.
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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