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Education

Geography teachers, postsecondary

Typically requires Doctoral or professional degree

What is this page & how do I use it?

This is a research report for one career — the kind an analyst would write for a stock. The rating at the top is the neutral baseline (same for everyone); below it come the cases for and against, how the last official forecast for this career actually aged, and what the education path costs and pays.

How to use it: read the bulls-vs-bears case, then hit Score this career to weigh it against your other options with your own interests factored in.

CareerStar rating
MixedMedium uncertainty
top 29% of all 730 careers

Analyst take: Strong market prospects — +3.3% projected growth, moderate AI exposure (48/100).

50
/ 100
low riskhigh
top row = high reward

Moat (borrowed from investing — the water that defends a castle): how shielded this career is from AI. Narrow = some shelter, but AI can reach a real share of its tasks.

The small grid is a style box (borrowed from Morningstar’s fund reports): the blue square places this career on reward (top row = high) versus risk (left column = low), against all 730 careers. Medium uncertainty means the score leans partly on forward-looking bets like AI exposure, so treat the exact number loosely.

🐂 Bulls say
  • +High pay — above 80% of careers ($86,730).
  • +Strong projected growth — outpaces 58% of careers (+3.3%).
🐻 Bears say
  • Its softest spot: it carries some AI exposure (48% of tasks).
📜 Reality check — how the last forecast for this career fared

In 2014, the U.S. government projected +9.3% growth for this career by 2024. What actually happened: -25.9%. Reality fell short of the forecast — a reminder that every number on this page is an estimate, and this is how the last one aged. Full back-test →

Was this rating fair?
Projected growth
+3.3%
Median pay
$86,730
AI exposure
48/100
share of tasks exposed to AI — not job loss

Education & ROI — how to get here

Real outcomes for the college majors that feed this occupation, across 1,578 bachelor’s programs.

Median earnings
$36,517
1 year after graduating
Typical debt
$26,000
median federal debt
Pay-to-debt
1.4×
first-year pay ÷ debt
Feeder majors
Physical Education Teaching and CoachingGeospatial IntelligenceGeography and Environmental StudiesGeography
Selective schools offering these majors
University of Chicago
IL · 4% admit rate
$90,360/yr
$91,885 grad pay
Dartmouth College
NH · 5% admit rate
$87,793/yr
$97,434 grad pay
Vanderbilt University
TN · 6% admit rate
$89,590/yr
$91,565 grad pay
Johns Hopkins University
MD · 6% admit rate
$85,947/yr
$87,555 grad pay
Bowdoin College
ME · 7% admit rate
$85,100/yr
$82,735 grad pay
Northwestern University
IL · 8% admit rate
$91,250/yr
$89,363 grad pay

Earnings & debt from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard; majors mapped to this occupation via the NCES CIP→SOC crosswalk. A grounded ROI snapshot, not a guarantee — pay varies widely by school and specialty.

What this work involves

teachingeducationpeoplecommunication