---
title: Is a Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language degree worth the debt?
cip: 1314
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release)
sourceId: src:doe:college-scorecard:field-of-study:2026-06-10
---

# Is a Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **5** colleges (5 of 5 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $22,495 ($35,600 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $24,500 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 1.08× a first year's pay


**How to read this:** these are MEDIANS across college programs, measured **1–2 years after completion** (early career, graduates only) — NOT lifetime earnings, and NOT comparable to a college's 10-years-after-entry figure. They cover **federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report**; small programs are suppressed. A field median is not a prediction of your outcome, not causal (who enters a field differs by field), and **not a "best majors" ranking** — earnings are one dimension of worth. Verify by field at the official College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/).

## By degree level

| Level | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt | Debt/pay | Colleges | Programs reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bachelor's | $22,495 | $24,500 | 1.08× | 5 | 5/5 |
| Master's | $48,284 | $28,374 | 0.50× | 50 | 50/50 |
| Grad cert. | $62,031 | $12,479 | 0.39× | 5 | 5/5 |

## Where a Bachelor's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Miami University-Oxford (OH) | $38,306 | $24,500 |
| University of Northern Iowa (IA) | $35,795 | $25,335 |
| Liberty University (VA) | $22,495 | $27,000 |
| Kent State University at Kent (OH) | $17,468 | $23,792 |
| University of Hawaii at Manoa (HI) | $17,290 | $18,696 |

RECORDED College Scorecard figures + one DERIVED ratio (debt-to-earnings). Informs and compares; not advice on what to major in. Each college's full record: `/education/<slug>`.

Structured data: `/education/fields/teaching-english-or-french-as-a-second-or-foreign-language.jsonld` · `/education/fields/teaching-english-or-french-as-a-second-or-foreign-language.json`