Best Physics Teacher, Postsecondary programs in Texas, ranked by enrollment
Teach courses pertaining to the laws of matter and energy.
48 schools in Texas run programs that feed this job, graduating 735 people a year. The job pays a median of $97,760 in Texas across about 1,110 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Texas that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
6 programs in Texas that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Texas (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 Texas page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 40.0801In Texas → | 692 | 94.1% | 43 | $47,156 | $23,490 |
| 2 | CIP 51.2205In Texas → | 15 | 2.0% | 1 | $36,762 | $25,076 |
| 3 | CIP 13.1316In Texas → | 13 | 1.8% | 5 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 4 | CIP 40.0899In Texas → | 11 | 1.5% | 1 | $47,156 | $23,490 |
| 5 | CIP 40.0299In Texas → | 2 | 0.3% | 1 | $39,728 | $24,678 |
| 6 | CIP 40.0508In Texas → | 2 | 0.3% | 1 | $42,620 | $23,900 |
Top 25 schools in Texas
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 10 of the 48 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 122 | Physics, General | $36,832 | 89% | — | 27% |
| 2 | Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 72 | Physics, General | $53,329 | 84% | — | 57% |
| 3 | Rice University Houston, TX Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 66 | Physics, General | — | 95% | $13,264 | 8% |
| 4 | The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 54 | Physics, General | — | 76% | — | 65% |
| 5 | University of Houston Houston, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 46 | Physics, General | — | 65% | — | 74% |
| 6 | The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 33 | Physics, General | $36,328 | 53% | — | 87% |
| 7 | The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Physics, General | $34,611 | 54% | — | 80% |
| 8 | University of North Texas Denton, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Physics, General | — | 61% | — | 72% |
| 9 | Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Physics, General | $57,435 | 69% | — | 73% |
| 10 | East Texas A&M University Commerce, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Physics, General | — | 43% | — | 92% |
| 11 | Texas State University San Marcos, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Physics, General | $41,737 | 55% | — | 89% |
| 12 | The University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Physics, General | — | 50% | — | 100% |
| 13 | Baylor University Waco, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Physics, General | — | 80% | $35,682 | 51% |
| 14 | Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 18 | Science Teacher Education/General Science Teacher Education | $57,665 | 86% | $25,823 | 44% |
| 15 | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Health/Medical Physics | $99,671 | — | — | — |
| 16 | Austin Community College District Austin, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Physics, General | — | 20% | — | — |
| 17 | The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Physics, General | — | 51% | — | 94% |
| 18 | Tyler Junior College Tyler, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Physics, General | — | 27% | — | — |
| 19 | University of Houston - Clear Lake Houston, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Physics, General | — | 52% | — | 91% |
| 20 | Austin College Sherman, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Physics, General | — | 67% | $23,152 | 48% |
| 21 | Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Physics, General | — | 55% | — | 90% |
| 22 | Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Physics, General | — | 84% | $33,246 | 63% |
| 23 | Texas A & M University - Corpus Christi Corpus Christi, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Physics, General | — | 40% | — | 89% |
| 24 | University of Dallas Irving, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Physics, General | — | 73% | $20,960 | 53% |
| 25 | Angelo State University San Angelo, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Physics, General | — | 44% | — | 83% |
All 48 schools in Texas
Every school in Texas 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The University of Texas at Austin | Austin | Public | 122 | 1 |
| Texas A&M University - College Station | College Station | Public | 72 | 1 |
| Rice University | Houston | Private not-for-profit | 66 | 3 |
| The University of Texas at Dallas | Richardson | Public | 54 | 1 |
| University of Houston | Houston | Public | 46 | 1 |
| The University of Texas at San Antonio | San Antonio | Public | 33 | 1 |
| The University of Texas at Arlington | Arlington | Public | 32 | 1 |
| University of North Texas | Denton | Public | 32 | 1 |
| Texas Tech University | Lubbock | Public | 30 | 1 |
| East Texas A&M University | Commerce | Public | 27 | 1 |
| Texas State University | San Marcos | Public | 27 | 1 |
| The University of Texas at El Paso | El Paso | Public | 20 | 1 |
| Baylor University | Waco | Private not-for-profit | 19 | 1 |
| Texas Christian University | Fort Worth | Private not-for-profit | 18 | 3 |
| The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | Houston | Public | 15 | 1 |
What physics teachers, postsecondary earn in Texas
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $100,310. Texas pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Texas
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 Physics Teachers, Postsecondary page.
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.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Texas
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
Common questions
Answers for people weighing physics teachers, postsecondary programs in Texas.
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 692 degrees in Texas in 2024-25, 94.1% 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 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Physics, Public Health, Teacher Education and Professional Development, Astronomy and Astrophysics, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 735 people a year in Texas.
How much do physics teachers, postsecondary earn in Texas?+
The median is $97,760 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 2.5% below the U.S. median of $100,310. 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 in Texas?+
48 institutions in Texas reported graduates from at least one of the 6 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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