Weigh two reading tasks
Have students set two reading tasks side by side and say what a child would gain from each.
Career profile
Education College Instructor
Education instructors show college students how people learn and the methods for teaching others.
Future teachers fill your classes, and you help them link classroom choices to what pupils understand. Some jobs add research on improving teacher training.
A day in the life
Mark up a lesson plan
Read through a student's lesson plan, mark where a task misses its goal, and write revision comments.
Sit in on a trainee's lesson
In fieldwork jobs, first sit in on a trainee's lesson, then afterward discuss how the pupils reacted.
Study teacher education programs
If you do research, study teacher education programs, review findings with colleagues, then write them up for publication.
Help a student pick courses
During office hours, talk with a student about how education courses fit their school and career goals.
Quick facts
Usually a doctorate
United States · 2025 entry classification
$75,350 a year
United States · 2025
2.5% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Usually a doctorateA doctorate is the typical entry education; some college teaching positions accept a master's in education.
Pay
$75,350 a year2025 national median for education teachers, postsecondary.
Outlook
2.5% projected growthAbout 5,300 openings a year are projected for education teachers, postsecondary, during 2025–2035.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You enjoy explaining why a teaching approach works.
- You can give specific feedback without taking over someone's work.
- You want to investigate questions about learning.
Things to weigh
- Class meetings are only part of the workload; preparation and grading take additional time.
- At research universities, publishing papers and seeking funding compete for time with teaching.
Where AI may help
Experimental classroom simulators use artificial intelligence (AI) to create virtual pupils and aim to give future teachers feedback on practice lessons.
What people still lead
You help a beginning teacher understand why a lesson produced a particular response and choose something manageable to improve.
What we can’t predict yet
How much coaching automated feedback can take over remains unsettled, especially when realistic classroom responses and nuanced advice matter.
Pay in context
Earnings
Check whether an offer pays an annual salary or pays separately for each course.
National pay and spread
The 2025 median was $75,350 for education teachers, postsecondary. That equals about $36.23 an hour if divided by 2,080 hours—a comparison, not an actual hourly rate or faculty schedule. The lowest-paid 10% earned $39,530 or less; the highest-paid 10% earned $126,860 or more. These are wage percentiles, not career stages.
Course pay works differently
At Eastern Iowa Community Colleges, the education adjunct base rate is $800 per credit hour: $2,400 for a three-credit course. A credit hour measures course credit, not all the hours you spend preparing, teaching, and grading.
Openings exceed new positions
National employment is projected to grow 2.5% during 2025–2035. The roughly 5,300 annual openings include replacing people who leave the occupation, so they are not all newly created jobs.
Getting started
Build toward university faculty work
Doctoral study usually takes several years after a bachelor's or master's degree.
- What the route involves
- Complete a relevant doctorate, conduct original research, and build teaching experience.
- What it can lead to
- Preparation to apply for university roles combining education courses with research.
- What to check
- Teacher-preparation positions can also require school teaching and college teaching experience; the doctorate alone may not meet every requirement.
Target teaching roles accepting a master's
- What the route involves
- Earn a master's in education and develop teaching experience.
- What it can lead to
- Eligibility for some education adjunct positions, where previous teaching experience may be preferred.
- What to check
- Check each opening's degree and subject requirements; this route does not qualify you for every faculty position.
Plan for graduate study and experience teaching. The mix depends on the faculty position you want.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get established
Build your course calendar and assignments. Use student work to spot explanations that need revision.
Deepen your specialty
Develop expertise in an area such as elementary teaching. In research appointments, collaborate on studies of teacher preparation.
Advance in faculty rank
Where the rank system applies, work toward associate professor and professor. Tenure decisions weigh teaching, research, and contributions to the institution.
Where you can work
Research university
You teach undergraduate and graduate students while working with researchers, mentoring graduate students, and pursuing grants. Publication is part of the job.
- Indoors
- Office
Community college
Courses and student support take more of your attention. Some education teaching assignments include evening classes or work at multiple campuses.
- Indoors
- Office
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Invent a short lesson plan for teaching fractions, including one question to check understanding. Then act as the instructor of the future teacher: write two comments explaining where the plan could confuse a learner and how to revise it. Notice whether you enjoy analyzing someone else's teaching choices.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. Education Teachers, Postsecondary — 25-1081.00. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- O*NET OnLine / U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. National Wages: Education Teachers, Postsecondary. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational projections and worker characteristics, 2025–2035. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Postsecondary Teachers. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- North Carolina State University. Assistant Professor in Elementary Teacher Education. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Eastern Iowa Community Colleges. Adjunct Faculty, Education. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development. Can AI Unlock the Power of Unlimited, Meaningful ‘Do Overs’ for Beginning Teachers?. Accessed 2026-10-04.