Salary       To compound the problem of spending more money and time and overall effort in school, the money issue is the key factor holding intelligent people out of the teaching field. The starting salary for a BS Chemistry major is approximatly $35,000 - $40,000. (source Careers) This compares to about $25,000 dollars for a starting Chemistry Teacher. (source Salary) To compound this discrepency beginning teachers move up slowly in salary. Since 1980, teachers salaries have risen only 24%. This compared to a 3% per-anum (45% over same time peroid) for the average chemist. This Chart shows the growth for BS Chemistry majors salaries since 1988:   As is clearly seen, the chemist's advancements in pay are quite good, when compared to the numbers mentioned above.        home       copyright 1998 University of Delaware - Chem 465