How to Become a College Professor

Teaching at a university is a rewarding career path, though much hard work and sacrifice is required. Here is how to become a college professor.

Edit Steps

Complete your compulsory education.

Complete your compulsory education. In the United States, this is finishing 12th grade and obtaining a high school diploma, or receiving a General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Strive to attend the most academically rigorous college/university you can. It doesn't have to be an Ivy League school, but following the advice in How to Get Into an Ivy League School will help you get into any institution.
- Keep in mind that you will also need to pay for graduate school, so minimize the amount of student loans you need to take with scholarships and grants. Accumulating significant student loans during your undergraduate years will add to the loan payments you'll need to make when you're finished with grad school and ready to move on to the professional world. With this in mind, you'll need to weigh a school's academic reputation and its cost.

Get a bachelor's degree in the discipline you'd like to teach.

Get a bachelor's degree in the discipline you'd like to teach. Follow the steps in How to Prepare for a PhD as an Undergraduate. Do your best to maintain high grades to qualify for honors programs and to graduate at the top of your class. Universities want to hire professors who love learning, the educational environment, and excelled at school themselves.

Apply for Ph.

Apply for Ph.D. programs. If you want to teach in a two year college, you will need a master's degree (and often a Ph.D.) in the subject you want to teach. If you want to teach at a university (four year institution), you definitely need a terminal degree in that discipline, usually the doctorate.
- Doctoral programs take about 6 years to complete after obtaining a bachelor's degree. This includes time used for earning a master's degree and completing a dissertation. ^[1]
- As a requirement to obtain a Ph.D., you will need to produce a dissertation, which is a paper that describes your original research. Your thesis must propose a new hypothesis or establish a new testable model. ^[2]
- Doctoral programs take an average of 6 years of full-time study beyond the bachelor's degree, including time spent completing a master's degree and a dissertation. Some programs, such as those in the humanities, may take longer to complete; others, such as those in engineering, usually are shorter.^[3]

Do postdoctoral research.

Do postdoctoral research. If you want a faculty position at a research-oriented or Ph.D.-granting university, typically you will need to do at least one postdoctoral fellowship after completing your Ph.D. During this time, typically 2-3 yrs, you will need to publish as many papers as you can in the top ranked journals of your discipline.
- You will also need to develop an independent research plan that is first and foremost at the leading edge of your discipline, one that is fundable by federal agencies such as the National Institute of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), and Department of Eduction (DOE), etc., and will attract graduate students as postdocs to your group.

As a graduate student, apply to become a teaching assistant for a full-time professor. You will most likely TA for an undergraduate professor. This is the best opportunity for you to gain work experience before you apply for the actual professor positions, and it's also a good chance for you to make sure that teaching is what you want to do for the rest of your life.
- TAs often help the professor prepare for class, lead classes, communicate with students, grade tests and assignments, and assist in data entry.
- Professors who teach large classes of hundreds of students will usually have multiple TAs who break each lesson down with small groups of 10-30 students after class. These are great opportunities for you to basically teach your own class.
- While you are a TA, work closely with your professor and stand out to him or her. Be as helpful as possible and make sure that the professor knows what you are passionate about. They will be a huge asset in your ability to find a job later on, not just as a reference but also as someone who can recommend you for positions.

Consider a position as adjunct professor. Like regular, tenured professors, an adjunct professor must fulfill the same education requirements. But being a part-time professor might be a better fit for your situation. Adjunct schedules are flexible and not tied to academic administrative requirements. Plus, you may have experience in a specialized field that the university lacks in its curriculum.

When searching for a full-fledged professor position, apply everywhere. The more places you apply, the better your chances of getting a job. This only works if you are willing to move anywhere (possibly cross country) with short notice.
- Start by looking at universities that are looking to expand the department you are interested in becoming a part of. Because most professors become tenured, it is unlikely that there are openings at top research universities if the department isn't also increasing the number of professors it's hiring.
- As with any job application, it's important that you follow up in all places you submit your resume to. It keeps you at the top of your employers' mind and gives off a better impression of you. Remember that employers are also human and that you want to make their job easier -- give them reasons to remember you and to pick you for the job.

Aim for earning tenure. Most colleges and universities allow professors to work full time and earn tenure. Tenure provides those in the academic profession with some benefits, including protection from termination without due process or without cause.
- Typically tenure at a top-ranked research institution requires some degree of demonstrable funding (especially in sciences and engineering disciplines) and a strong record of publications. There is also a 7-year trial period to determine whether you are eligible for tenure. Being a good teacher with a undistinguished research record will typically not get you tenure.
- In sciences and engineering, starting assistant professors are typically given funds to build a lab, buy specialized equipment and supplies, and get their projects off the ground. This would usually be thought of by the junior faculty members as an investment that their university has made in them. They should try very hard to make good on this investment through securing their own funding, typically 2-3x their startup, before coming up for tenure.

Stay on top of the latest research in your field and attend business conferences.

Stay on top of the latest research in your field and attend business conferences. You should be reading publications in your field every day -- which shouldn't be too difficult if you have a true passion for that area. (And if you don't, you may want to reconsider becoming a professor for that subject.)
- You need to continually expand your specialized knowledge in that field if you want to become a good professor. Things can change from what's printed in the textbooks, and you want to be able to share that information with your students. It's better not to be one step behind your students and peers.
- Networking with the experts in your field will also bolster your own research endeavors.

Edit Tips

Make sure that you enjoy teaching and are a personable person who can relate to college students.

Remain humble. Don't succumb to "professor's disease." Just because you spend your days in front of students who, by definition, have a lot to learn, doesn't mean you are omniscient or have an exalted place in the universe.

Be prepared to work as a TA or adjunct professor to get your foot in the door. Most universities require experience before hiring.

If you go to a two-year school, junior college, or community college, make sure that your degree path is intended to transfer to a four-year college or university. Some degrees at the two-year institution are not intended for transfer, but rather to prepare the student for the job market (vocational).

Remember that the teaching rewards will be great. Teaching in a college environment means that your students want to be where they are, where as normally in elementary through high school classrooms, students are there because they have to be, not because they want to be.

Take elective courses (while earning the Bachelor's degree) in collateral areas.

Go to conferences offered by the national organization for the discipline that interests you to continually expand your knowledge.

Edit Warnings

Don't base your decision on where to teach solely by prestige of university. Some smaller universities can be top-notch niches in certain fields, and others can have excellent faculty and resources to work with.

It may be difficult to balance cultivating a strong family life while conducting extensive research. Moving to places to meet job opportunities can also take a toll on your family.