You Need to Become a Teacher
Teaching is one of the noblest professions. Teachers are responsible for shaping young minds and educating our future leaders. However, being an educator requires education. What degree do you need to become a teacher, though?
The education requirements for teachers vary from state to state. In addition, the education requirements vary with the level of classes you will be teaching. For high school and below, most states require that teachers have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in education with approximately 24 to 36 hours of college level courses in the subject they will be teaching.
For community colleges and lower level, freshman university courses, a master’s degree in education is usually required. There has been a recent trend in which community colleges prefer their professors to have experience teaching prior to being hired. In addition, the competition for these positions is fierce. Therefore, those with a PhD are being given a closer look than those with a master’s degree.
Universities typically require a PhD for their fully tenured professor positions. However, there are some positions, such as certain arts and part time opening, where they will consider someone with a master’s degree. Bear in mind that you will likely need to obtain your PhD if you would like to have one of the permanent positions.
It is important to determine your ultimate teaching goals prior to enrolling in a program. There are many to choose from, and certain universities even have special programs that can allow you to earn your teaching degree in a shorter period of time.