Prevailing Wage for Postsecondary Teachers, All Other
Prevailing wage for Postsecondary Teachers, All Other (SOC 25-1199) is set by DOL using Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey data. Four experience levels establish separate wage floors, and the exact threshold shifts considerably depending on which U.S. city the position is located in. Sponsored candidates should confirm their offer clears the correct level before the LCA is filed.
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Entry-level instructors with limited independent teaching experience, typically relying on established curricula and close faculty oversight. New lecturers, adjunct instructors in their first sponsored appointment, or those transitioning from teaching assistant roles generally fall here.
Qualified instructors with some independent course development and a demonstrated record in the classroom. Level 2 is the most common filing level for these positions, covering full-time instructors who design syllabi but do not yet hold substantial program-leadership responsibilities.
Experienced faculty who lead curriculum development, mentor junior colleagues, or hold coordinator-level duties within a department. Instructors with a sustained publication or research record in their subject area and several years of independent teaching typically qualify at this level.
Senior faculty or program directors with full autonomy over course design, departmental policy, and often hiring decisions. Endowed chairs, associate or full professors sponsored for permanent residence, and lead faculty overseeing multi-section programs are representative Level 4 filers.
Prevailing Wage for Postsecondary Teachers, All Other by OES area
Each shape is a DOL OES area, the unit prevailing wage is published for.
What’s an OES area?
The Department of Labor publishes prevailing wages for geographic zones called OES areas. Every U.S. county belongs to exactly one, and the wage floor applies across the whole area. A worker in Oakland gets the San Francisco metro wage, not a separate Oakland wage.
Top 10 cities · Level 1
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See which U.S. employers are actively hiring for Postsecondary Teachers, All Other and sponsoring H-1B, OPT, and green card visas at or above the prevailing wage.
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Confirm your teaching title maps correctly
Titles like Lecturer, Instructor, or Adjunct Professor can be filed under multiple SOC codes. Confirm your employer is using SOC 25-1199 on the LCA, not a subject-specific code like 25-1051, which carries a different wage floor.
Account for the California community college premium
Sacramento, Bakersfield, Visalia, and Salinas all appear in the top-paying metros for this occupation. If your offer is in a California community college district, the local prevailing wage floor can run well above the national median, so verify the worksite city before accepting.
Treat course-release and stipend pay carefully
Summer stipends, research-release payments, and one-time course overloads are often excluded from the base salary DOL compares against the prevailing wage. Ensure your guaranteed annual base alone clears the applicable level, not a blended total that includes variable academic-year extras.
Use Migrate Mate to identify sponsors with postsecondary hiring history
Migrate Mate shows which universities and colleges have sponsored postsecondary teaching roles before, so you can focus applications on institutions with a documented H-1B or green card filing record for instructional staff rather than testing whether a school will sponsor at all.
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Find Jobs for this roleFrequently Asked Questions
How does DOL set the prevailing wage for Postsecondary Teachers, All Other?
DOL draws on Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics across hundreds of metro areas. For SOC 25-1199, wage points at the 17th, 34th, 50th, and 67th percentiles of surveyed salaries define the four prevailing wage levels. Employers file a Labor Condition Application through OFLC certifying that the offered wage meets or exceeds the applicable level for the worksite location.
What do the four wage levels mean and how do I know which applies to my offer?
DOL assigns levels based on experience, supervision, and job complexity. Level 1 covers entry-level instructors under close oversight; Level 2 covers qualified instructors with independent teaching duties; Level 3 covers experienced faculty with curriculum or mentoring responsibilities; Level 4 covers senior faculty or program directors with broad autonomy. The level your employer selects must honestly reflect the duties in the job description, not simply the lowest available wage floor.
Why does the prevailing wage for the same teaching role vary so much by city?
OFLC calculates prevailing wages from regional OES surveys, so local labor market conditions drive the figure. A postsecondary instructor position in Sacramento commands a significantly higher floor than the same title in Tulsa because surveyed wages in California's Central Valley institutions are higher. The LCA must list the actual worksite, so if you will teach at a specific campus, that city's wage applies, not a lower national median.
What happens if my job offer is below the prevailing wage for a sponsored position?
An employer cannot file a certified LCA with USCIS if the offered wage falls below the DOL prevailing wage for the occupation and worksite. If the gap exists, the employer must raise the base salary before filing, identify a lower applicable wage level that honestly fits the duties, or reconsider the sponsorship. Accepting a below-floor offer does not protect the employee; USCIS will not approve an H-1B or green card petition built on a non-compliant LCA.
How do I find and verify the prevailing wage for a specific U.S. location?
Use the OFLC Wage Search tool to look up SOC 25-1199 by metropolitan area or county. Select the survey year that matches your employer's planned LCA filing period, since wage levels update annually. For green card PERM cases, the employer typically requests a formal Prevailing Wage Determination from OFLC rather than relying on the general wage search. Migrate Mate can help you find postsecondary teaching positions where the employer already has a documented sponsorship record, narrowing your search before you reach the wage-verification step.
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