ROI Major

Teacher Education, Specific Levels and Methods at Treasure Valley Community College

OR · Associate's Degree · CIP 13.12

Apply Now Data: 2026 release

Executive Summary

Graduates with a Teacher Education, Specific Levels and Methods degree from Treasure Valley Community College earn a median salary of $36,609 within five years of graduation. Adjusted for the cost of living in OR, this represents a national purchasing power equivalent of $32,029. The degree typically pays for itself in 44 years.

Quick Insights

Slow Burn / High Debt Risk

How this degree looks at a glance

A fast read on salary range, break-even speed, living-cost impact, and where graduates from this school usually land.

Salary Ranges

Starting Range

$26,436

Typical Career

$36,609

Top Performers

$45,137

Estimated break-even: 44 years.

Debt-to-Income Check

$244

Estimated comfortable monthly loan payment

Typical monthly pay is approximately $3,051. Most students can comfortably afford about a $244 monthly loan payment with this degree.

Comparison Bench

This degree earns 0.9x more than the average US high school graduate and 0.5x more than the average college graduate.

Purchasing Power Context

A dollar in Oregon buys what costs $1.14 nationally.

Industry Breadcrumbs

Top industries for bachelor's graduates from this school: Health Care & Social Assistance, Educational Services, Retail Trade.

Where Associate's Graduates from This School Work

Health Care & Social Assistance 33.3%
Educational Services 10.2%
Retail Trade 9.5%

Institution-wide industry mix for graduates, 5 years after graduation. This is not major-specific. Source: Census PSEO Flows.

5-Year Median Salary — National Purchasing Power Equivalent

$32,029

Nominal: $36,609 in Oregon (COL 114.3% of national avg) · 12.5% lower purchasing power

10-Year Earnings Curve

Break-Even Timeline

How long until cumulative earnings advantage exceeds total college investment (tuition + opportunity cost vs. entering workforce directly after high school).

44 years to break even
Graduation 15 years

Total Investment

$155,168

4yr tuition + 4yr opportunity cost

HS Graduate Baseline

$38,792/yr

BLS 2023 median, HS diploma

View Raw Data: Median Earnings by Year
Timeframe 25th Pct. Median (50th) 75th Pct.
1 Year After Graduation $20,547 $26,911 $35,069
5 Years After Graduation $26,436 $36,609 $45,137
10 Years After Graduation $34,546 $44,060 $54,950

Source: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO), 2025 release. Earnings shown for Bachelor's degree graduates (all cohorts combined).

How We Calculate Purchasing Power

The median salary of $36,609 is reported by the US Census Bureau's Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) dataset for graduates working in OR, which has a cost-of-living index of 114.3% of the national average.

Formula: Adjusted Salary = Nominal × (1.0 ÷ COL Index)
= $36,609 × (1.0 ÷ 1.1430) = $32,029 National Average equivalent.

COL index source: BLS Regional Consumer Price Index & MIT Living Wage Project, 2023. Full methodology →

Career Verdict

Graduates of the Teacher Education, Specific Levels and Methods program at Treasure Valley Community College can expect a gradual increase in earnings over time. The median earnings one year after graduation stand at $26,911, rising to $36,609 after five years and reaching $44,060 a decade post-graduation. However, considering the cost of living in Oregon, where the cost-of-living index is 1.143 compared to the national average of 1.0, the purchasing-power-adjusted five-year salary equivalent is approximately $32,028.87, indicating that actual purchasing power may be lower than raw figures suggest.

The primary industries that graduates enter are predominantly within Health Care & Social Assistance, with 56.3% of graduates finding employment in this sector. This trend continues with 33.3% and 15.1% of graduates also entering related fields. Given the estimated break-even point of approximately 44 years compared to a high-school-only path, the return on investment for this educational path may be limited, suggesting that while the program offers valuable skills, the financial benefits may take considerable time to materialize.

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See how the Teacher Education, Specific Levels and Methods degree at Treasure Valley Community College stacks up against another institution side-by-side.

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Data sources: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO). Cost-of-living index: BLS Regional CPI & MIT Living Wage Project. Cost of attendance: IPEDS. For informational use only; data may be suppressed for small cohort sizes.