Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods at Bryant & Stratton College-Wauwatosa

Bryant & Stratton College-Wauwatosa's teacher education associate's degree saddles students with nearly double the typical debt burden for this field—$26,531 versus a national median of just $13,608. That's actually worse than many bachelor's degree programs, yet graduates here earn $23,210 their first year, well below both Wisconsin's state median ($27,050) and the national average ($25,120). Among Wisconsin's 22 schools offering this program, this ranks in just the 40th percentile for earnings while carrying substantially higher debt than most competitors.

The numbers get more troubling when you see that technical colleges across Wisconsin—Milwaukee Area Technical College, Fox Valley Technical College, and others—produce graduates earning $27,000 to $30,000 with typically lower debt loads. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.14 means your child would graduate owing more than their entire first year's salary, a heavy burden for someone entering the relatively modest-paying education field. With 57% of students here receiving Pell grants, many families are taking on significant financial risk.

For an associate's degree in education, Wisconsin's technical college system offers demonstrably better outcomes. Unless there are compelling location or scheduling reasons, those alternatives would give your child stronger earning potential without the outsized debt burden.