Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas at University of North Carolina Wilmington

Similar programs across North Carolina suggest this degree produces typical outcomes for new teachers—estimated first-year earnings around $42,137 with debt near $25,500. That debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.61 reflects the fundamental reality of education careers: you're investing bachelor's-degree time and money for salaries that start below many other professional fields. The estimates here align closely with what other NC teaching programs actually report, and they're in line with national benchmarks for subject-area education degrees.

The challenge is that these are ballpark figures based on peer programs, not UNCW's specific track record. Programs at nearby UNC Greensboro and UNC Pembroke show actual earnings in the low $40,000s, while NC State and East Carolina edge slightly higher into the mid-$40,000s. Whether UNCW falls at the lower or higher end of that range matters—a few thousand dollars makes a meaningful difference when you're managing student loans on a teacher's salary.

If your child is committed to teaching and this is their preferred campus, the estimated numbers aren't alarming for the field. But given the lack of program-specific data, it's worth asking UNCW directly about job placement rates and starting salaries for their education graduates. Teaching offers stability and loan forgiveness programs that improve the financial picture over time, but you're going in without the hard data you'd want for a major investment.