Across the United States, public school districts are grappling with a shortage of teachers. Challenging conditions—including low pay, stressful and even unsafe classroom environments, and a political climate that inspires pessimism about the future of education—have left potential educators wary of entering the field and are pushing veteran teachers out the door. Compounding the issue of low pay is student-loan debt, and in particular, debt for graduate degrees in education. Addressing this debt would go a long way toward alleviating the financial burdens teachers face and could help make the teaching profession a more attractive career pathway for potential educators.
According to our analysis of U.S. Education Department data, at least 61 percent of graduates with a master’s degree in education have some student-loan debt. Among those with debt from both their master’s and undergraduate degrees, the median debt is $72,000, half of which ($36,000) is attributable to graduate loans. While $72,000 is far less than what law school and medical school graduates owe (medians of $137,500 and $200,000, respectively), education degrees offer lower earning potential relative to those pricier degrees. In fact, there is evidence that the average teacher salary has actually fallen when adjusted for inflation and is therefore worth less today in real dollars than 10 years ago.
Our research sheds further light on the extent to which graduate degrees in education leave teachers in a worse spot financially. Hundreds of master’s degree programs in education leave graduates with debt that they cannot reasonably repay, and some programs leave graduates with earnings no better than they would have made with a bachelor’s degree alone. Perhaps unsurprisingly, states with some of the largest numbers of programs with high debt-to-earnings ratios—including California, Florida, New York, and Virginia, among others—also face significant teacher shortages.
For some teachers, the risks associated with a master’s degree are well worth taking. In certain districts, teacher pay can top out in the low six figures, and a master’s degree is important to attain higher earnings. In fact, three states still require teachers to obtain a master’s degree in order to maintain their teaching license. Yet, for too many people, student loans are a decadeslong burden, limiting their ability to purchase a home, support a family, or save for retirement. Furthermore, a Center for American Progress analysis found that Black and Latino educators are disproportionately likely to struggle with debt, pointing to barriers to the profession for people from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.
In an ideal world, teacher pay would align with the high social value that teachers provide. While legislative proposals to improve teacher compensation have surged in states across the country, debt is still an important part of the equation. After all, what good is an increase in pay if any earnings gains are eclipsed by student-loan payments?
Given the variable nature of school funding in the United States, states have a bigger role to play in addressing low salaries. But student-loan debt mostly stems from federal loans, and it therefore requires a federal solution. Existing programs like Stafford loan forgiveness for teachers and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program offer some relief, but they also require teachers to navigate a maze of paperwork and bureaucratic red tape. Teacher loan forgiveness caps out at $5,000 and $17,500, depending on subject matter and grade level taught. Not only is this amount a drop in the bucket relative to overall debt, but opting for teacher Stafford loan forgiveness resets the clock on Public Service Loan Forgiveness, extending the years teachers must spend paying back their debt.
Moreover, it’s uncertain how these programs will fare under the incoming Trump administration, given that the president-elect has said he wants to end existing loan-forgiveness programs.
We believe that upfront federal grants for students planning on becoming teachers are a safer alternative to loan forgiveness, provided that graduates commit to teaching for a minimum number of years after completing their degrees. This would free up some income that educators could use to support themselves, their families, and their futures instead of paying down student loans. Grants also eliminate concerns that loan-forgiveness programs might be canceled or bogged down in administrative quagmire.
The federal TEACH Grant program offers one potential road map for a grant-based approach. But at a maximum of $4,000 per year, TEACH grant awards cover only a fraction of educational costs. They are also subject to onerous repayment stipulations, meaning that many grant recipients may instead see their grants converted to loans, with added interest.
Teachers make many sacrifices for their profession, but it is unreasonable to expect them to shoulder the financial burden of their professional education and development alone—particularly in light of stagnant earnings. The argument for better investment in our nation’s educators is a matter of common sense. Teachers are at the forefront of supporting the next generation; their professional preparation should not leave them mired in debt. While education debt is just one of many challenges facing teachers, eliminating this worry could go a long way toward making work in the field more financially sustainable for potential and current educators.
