Have you always had a love for teaching, but all you’ve heard is that people who have a career in education tend to not make that much money? In some cases, that would be true, but if there tends to be one exception, it would have to be when it comes to college professors. As a matter of fact, according to many reports, while a college instructor can earn about $60,000 annually, an assistant and associate professor’s average salary is between $102,000-114,000. Oh, and a professor? They can earn close to $200,000 a year!

So as you can see, there are some teaching positions that do pay off, big time. However, before you start your search of which colleges and universities are currently hiring professors, it’s a good idea to know what kind of education requirements you need to have first.

You need a bachelor’s degree in the field you’d like to teach. The first thing that you’re going to need is to have a bachelor’s degree, preferably in the subject matter that you’d like to teach later on. Remember that since you’re making plans to become an instructor, it’s a good idea to get the best grades as possible while you’re a student. That’s because when you take the next step, they will definitely be looking at your undergraduate transcripts.

You need to have completed graduate school. Oftentimes, when people think of graduate school, they assume that it only entails getting a master’s, but the truth is that if you do really well in your first year of graduate school, there are some colleges that will let you switch from a master’s program to a PhD one. However, the main thing to keep in mind is that a master’s is to a PhD what an associate’s degree is to an undergraduate one. In other words, if you have earned your master’s, it means that you only have to be in a PhD program for about half the amount of time (give or take a semester) that you would have had to otherwise.

You know need to know about doctoral programs before applying. The final educational requirement is to earn your PhD. Whether you have already obtained an online masters degree in public administration or you have your undergraduate degree in something like math, English or music, it’s important to keep in mind that doctoral programs require a lot of time and focus in order to complete them. As we’ve already discussed, if you have your master’s before starting the program, it can be advantageous for a couple of reasons. One reason is that you will always have two years credited to the doctoral program. The other reason is because if you wish to teach at a two-year college, many will accept you so long as you have a master’s. However, if you’re applying fresh out of a four-year school, be prepared to spend as much as six years studying, which includes you being requires to submit a dissertation (a paper that includes information about what you’ve been researching and studying while in the doctoral program). Also, it’s important to know that if you wish to have a faculty position at a college or university, it’s wise to do a postdoctoral fellowship following your graduation from the program. On average, they can last between 2-3 years, but come job interview time, you’ll definitely be glad to have it on your resume. And yes, while it does seem like it takes a lot to become a college professor, financially and otherwise, it can definitely be well worth the financial and time investment upon completion.