Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods at Ouachita Baptist University

Ouachita Baptist graduates enter teaching with slightly higher debt than Arkansas peers ($27,000 versus the state median of $24,800), but they're earning about $1,800 more than the typical Arkansas teacher education graduate. That's enough to place them in the 60th percentile statewide—solidly middle-of-the-pack when competing with 20 other Arkansas programs, though trailing the University of Arkansas's $47,000 median by a significant margin.

The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.65 is reasonable for teaching, translating to roughly eight months of gross income. More concerning is the earnings trajectory: four years out, graduates are actually making slightly less than they did in their first year. This is unusual for any field and likely reflects Arkansas's teacher salary structure rather than anything specific to Ouachita Baptist—but it does mean there's little financial progression to count on in those critical early career years.

The caveat here matters: with fewer than 30 graduates in this data set, a few outliers could be skewing the picture either way. For an Arkansas family considering this program, you're looking at predictable teacher-level income without the burden of crushing debt, but you're also investing in a career path that doesn't offer much salary growth in the first several years. If your child is committed to teaching in Arkansas, this is a financially viable route—just set expectations accordingly about long-term earnings potential.