2026 How to Become a College Professor

by Imed Bouchrika, PhD

Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist

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1. What does a college professor do?
2. What degree do you need to become a college professor for 2026?
3. How do you gain teaching experience for a professor role?
4. How important is research and publishing in becoming a professor?
5. What is the tenure track, and how does it work?
6. How much do college professors make?
7. Can an online EdD program effectively prepare you for a college professor role?
8. What challenges must college professors overcome in today’s academic landscape?
9. How can an online PhD in leadership and management boost your academic career?
10. What emerging trends are shaping the future of college professorship?
11. How can an advanced EdD degree boost your academic leadership skills?
12. What alternative academic career paths can complement a college professorship?
13. Can interdisciplinary studies broaden your academic impact?
14. How competitive is the job market for college professors?
15. Can you become a college professor without a Ph.D.?
16. What skills do you need to be a successful professor?
17. How can you increase your chances of becoming a professor?

What does a college professor do?

A college professor teaches postsecondary students, develops course materials, evaluates learning, mentors students, and may conduct research or professional scholarship. The balance of those responsibilities changes significantly by institution type. A professor at a research university may spend much of the week on grant writing, lab supervision, publishing, and graduate mentoring, while a community college professor may spend most of the job teaching, advising, and supporting student success.

Before choosing a graduate program, think carefully about which version of professorship you want. A research-intensive career, a teaching-centered role, and a professionally oriented faculty appointment can require different preparation.

What degree do you need to become a college professor for 2026?

Most full-time faculty roles require a graduate degree in the teaching discipline. For tenure-track jobs at research universities, a Ph.D. is usually the standard credential. However, a master’s degree may be sufficient for some community college positions, adjunct jobs, and applied programs. Professional fields such as law, medicine, business, and the arts may use different credential expectations.

Doctoral degrees

A Ph.D. is the most common requirement for research-focused and tenure-track academic roles. The time required to complete a Ph.D. varies by discipline:

• Physical and Earth Sciences – Around 6.3 years
• Engineering – About 6.8 years
• Psychology and Social Sciences – Typically 7.9 years
• Education – Can take up to 13 years

Master’s degrees

A master’s degree can be enough for some teaching roles, especially at community colleges, in adjunct appointments, and in fields where practical experience is valued. English, mathematics, education, business, fine arts, and subjects connected to history degrees may offer master’s-level teaching opportunities depending on the institution and course level.

Professional degrees

Some disciplines do not follow the Ph.D.-first model. Law faculty typically hold a J.D., medical faculty may hold an M.D., and business schools may value an MBA combined with substantial professional experience. Creative fields may also consider a terminal practice-based degree or an exceptional portfolio.

The right degree depends on your intended discipline, the type of institution where you want to teach, and whether your long-term goal is research, teaching, administration, or applied professional education.

How do you gain teaching experience for a professor role?

Teaching experience is one of the clearest ways to show that you can succeed in a college classroom. Graduate school can provide that experience, but it is not the only route. Candidates can also build evidence through adjunct teaching, tutoring, online instruction, professional training, and supervised instructional roles.

• Graduate teaching assistantships – Many doctoral students begin as teaching assistants. They may lead discussion sections, grade assignments, support labs, hold office hours, or teach introductory courses. As of 2023, about 142,306 graduate TAs are employed in the U.S.
• Adjunct or part-time college teaching – Adjunct work can help you build a teaching portfolio, collect student evaluations, and demonstrate that you can manage a course. Some candidates also gain earlier classroom exposure through roles related to what do you need to be a substitute teacher.
• Tutoring, mentoring, and academic coaching – These roles strengthen your ability to explain difficult concepts, diagnose learning gaps, and support different types of students.
• Online and continuing education instruction – Teaching online courses, professional workshops, or certificate programs can show that you can design learning experiences beyond the traditional classroom.
• Workplace training and educational outreach – Corporate training, museum education, nonprofit instruction, and adult education can help develop presentation, curriculum, and learner-support skills.

Aspiring professors should not wait until the job market to think about teaching. Start documenting your teaching work early, because a strong faculty application usually needs more than a degree transcript.

How important is research and publishing in becoming a professor?

Research and publishing are critical for many professor roles, especially tenure-track positions at research universities. A publication record signals that you can produce original work, contribute to your discipline, and participate in scholarly conversations beyond your own institution.

Publishing in leading academic journals is difficult. Prestigious journals such as Nature and Science accept only about 7–8% of submissions. The American Economic Review has a comparable acceptance rate of around 8% for regular submissions. In engineering, life sciences, and physical sciences, acceptance rates vary widely and average 32%, with some journals accepting as few as 1.1% of submissions.

Research expectations are not identical everywhere. A research university may expect journal articles, grant activity, conference presentations, lab leadership, and graduate student supervision. A liberal arts college may value research but place heavier weight on teaching. A community college may care more about instructional effectiveness than journal publication. Still, scholarly activity can improve credibility, strengthen applications, and support promotion.

If you are comparing doctoral options, reviewing what is the difference between a PhD and an EdD can help you decide whether you need a research-intensive doctorate or a more applied professional degree.

How to build a stronger research profile

• Join a faculty research project as early as possible in graduate school.
• Present at conferences before submitting to journals.
• Target journals that match your topic, methods, and contribution level.
• Build a publication plan with your advisor instead of submitting randomly.
• Keep a clear record of manuscripts, revisions, conference papers, grants, and collaborations.

What is the tenure track, and how does it work?

The tenure track is a probationary faculty pathway that can lead to a more secure, long-term academic appointment. It typically lasts six to seven years and includes formal review of teaching, research, and service. Tenure is designed to protect academic freedom, but earning it requires sustained evidence that you meet the institution’s standards.

New assistant professors often teach, publish, advise students, and support programs at the same time. Some mentor students in specialized areas, including those completing an online math education degree or similar graduate pathways.

Not every faculty job is tenure-track. Many colleges rely on lecturers, clinical faculty, visiting professors, adjunct instructors, and professors of practice. These roles can be meaningful and stable in some cases, but candidates should read contract terms carefully because job security, benefits, promotion rules, and research expectations vary.

How much do college professors make?

The average salary for full-time college professors in the 2023–24 academic year was $112,300. Pay varies by discipline, rank, institution type, geographic market, union or contract structure, and whether the role is full-time, tenure-track, clinical, adjunct, or administrative.

Salary should be evaluated alongside the cost and time required to earn the necessary degree. A long doctoral pathway can delay full-time earnings, and adjunct teaching may not provide the same income or benefits as a full-time faculty job. When comparing fields, consider the availability of tenure-track openings, nonacademic alternatives, location flexibility, and the opportunity cost of graduate study.

Can an online EdD program effectively prepare you for a college professor role?

An online EdD can be useful for professionals who want to teach in education-related fields, move into academic leadership, or strengthen applied expertise in curriculum, assessment, policy, and institutional improvement. It is usually best suited for practitioner-scholar roles rather than traditional research-intensive faculty paths.

The main advantage is flexibility. Many EdD students are working educators, administrators, trainers, or student-support professionals who need a doctoral pathway that fits around employment. Programs may cover leadership, applied research, instructional design, organizational change, and evidence-based decision-making. If speed is an important factor, comparing the fastest online EdD programs can help you identify options with accelerated structures.

However, candidates should be realistic. An EdD does not automatically qualify someone for every professor role. If your target is a tenure-track research job in a discipline outside education, a Ph.D. may be a better fit. Before enrolling, ask whether the program is accredited, whether faculty publish in your area of interest, whether graduates teach at colleges, and whether the dissertation or capstone matches your career goals.

What challenges must college professors overcome in today’s academic landscape?

College professors now work in an environment shaped by budget pressure, changing student needs, digital learning, competition for grants, publication expectations, and heavier service workloads. The job can be intellectually rewarding, but it often requires managing many priorities at once.

• Workload pressure – Teaching, grading, research, advising, committee work, and student support can compete for the same limited time.
• Research competition – Grant funding, journal publication, and tenure expectations can be demanding, especially for early-career faculty.
• Digital teaching demands – Professors increasingly need to design accessible online materials, use learning platforms, and support students in hybrid settings.
• Administrative responsibilities – Assessment, accreditation, curriculum review, and institutional reporting can consume more time than new faculty expect.
• Career uncertainty – Many candidates spend years in adjunct, visiting, or postdoctoral roles before securing permanent faculty employment.

Some educators respond by expanding their instructional training or pursuing additional credentials. For example, candidates comparing affordable routes into teaching may review the cheapest teaching degree online options, but any credential should be chosen for a clear professional purpose rather than simply added to a resume.

How can an online PhD in leadership and management boost your academic career?

An online PhD in leadership and management may benefit professionals who want to combine scholarship, organizational strategy, and higher education leadership. This type of doctorate can be especially relevant for faculty or administrators interested in program management, policy development, institutional effectiveness, organizational change, or applied research.

For academic careers, the value depends on fit. A leadership and management doctorate may strengthen your profile for departments or programs focused on organizational leadership, higher education administration, business, management, or adult learning. It may be less appropriate if you want to teach in a traditional discipline that expects a field-specific Ph.D.

If your goal is to build leadership credibility while keeping costs in view, researching an online PhD in leadership and management can help you compare doctoral options tied to organizational leadership and academic advancement.

What emerging trends are shaping the future of college professorship?

Several trends are changing what colleges expect from faculty. Professors increasingly need to teach across formats, use technology responsibly, support diverse learners, collaborate across disciplines, and connect coursework to workforce or community needs. These shifts do not replace deep subject expertise, but they do change how that expertise is delivered and evaluated.

• Hybrid and online learning – Faculty are expected to design courses that work in person, online, or in blended formats.
• AI and digital tools – Professors must rethink assignments, academic integrity policies, research workflows, and student support as AI tools become more common.
• Interdisciplinary programs – Colleges increasingly value faculty who can collaborate across departments and build programs around complex social, scientific, or professional problems.
• Student success expectations – Advising, retention, inclusive teaching, and early intervention are more visible parts of faculty work.
• Credential flexibility – Certificates, online degrees, continuing education, and professional programs are expanding the ways faculty may teach outside traditional semester-based courses.

Faculty who teach writing, literature, communication, or humanities-related subjects may also look at affordable online English master's degrees when building expertise in language, curriculum, and digital communication.

How can an advanced EdD degree boost your academic leadership skills?

An advanced EdD can help educators move from classroom-focused work into program leadership, curriculum design, assessment, accreditation, student services, or administrative decision-making. Unlike many research doctorates, the EdD commonly emphasizes applied problem-solving in educational settings.

This pathway may make sense if you want to lead a department initiative, manage academic programs, train faculty, improve learning outcomes, or prepare for administrative roles while continuing to teach. It may be less appropriate if your main goal is a research-intensive faculty position where disciplinary publications are the primary hiring criterion.

Cost and program quality matter. If you are comparing options, reviewing affordable EdD programs can help you evaluate tuition, format, accreditation, completion requirements, and alignment with your academic leadership goals.

What alternative academic career paths can complement a college professorship?

A professor’s career does not have to stay inside one department or one job title. Many academics build related careers in consulting, research administration, curriculum design, academic publishing, policy work, grant management, assessment, institutional research, learning design, or specialized centers. These paths can provide stability, income diversity, and broader impact.

Alternative academic paths can also make you a stronger faculty candidate by broadening your experience, especially if you can connect that work to teaching, research, or institutional service.

Can interdisciplinary studies broaden your academic impact?

Interdisciplinary expertise can make a professor more effective in fields where complex problems do not fit neatly inside one department. Public health, data ethics, education policy, environmental studies, digital humanities, business analytics, and social justice research often require methods and perspectives from multiple disciplines.

For faculty candidates, interdisciplinary training can be an advantage when it helps you teach across programs, collaborate on grants, build new curricula, or connect academic work to real-world problems. The risk is lack of focus. Hiring committees still need to understand your primary field, methods, and contribution.

If you want a structured way to combine fields, an interdisciplinary studies degree may help you develop a broader academic foundation. Make sure the program supports a coherent career narrative rather than a scattered set of unrelated interests.

How competitive is the job market for college professors?

The faculty job market is highly competitive, especially for tenure-track positions at research universities. Many applicants hold advanced degrees, teaching experience, publications, conference records, and strong recommendations, so a degree alone rarely makes a candidate stand out.

Full-time tenure-track positions are limited, and many new Ph.D. graduates begin in adjunct, postdoctoral, visiting, or temporary roles. Competition can be especially intense in the humanities and social sciences, where applicant pools may be larger than the number of available jobs. Fields such as engineering, healthcare, and computer science may offer more openings because of industry demand, but hiring still depends on specialization, institutional budgets, and candidate quality.

Some candidates strengthen their prospects by looking beyond traditional departments. For example, those interested in defense, behavioral science, or applied psychology may find useful context in a military psychologist career guide.

What hiring committees commonly look for

• A graduate degree that clearly matches the job description
• Evidence of effective college-level teaching
• Published or publishable research for research-oriented positions
• Strong letters of recommendation from credible faculty or professional supervisors
• A focused research agenda or teaching specialization
• Ability to contribute to department needs, curriculum, advising, and service
• Professional engagement through conferences, associations, grants, or collaborations

Can you become a college professor without a Ph.D.?

Yes, it is possible to become a college professor without a Ph.D., but the range of opportunities is narrower. Community colleges, adjunct positions, applied programs, and some teaching-focused institutions may hire candidates with a master’s degree, professional degree, or significant industry experience.

This route is most realistic in fields where professional expertise is central to instruction. Business, healthcare, education, fine arts, law-related studies, and technical programs may value candidates who can bring current workplace knowledge into the classroom. For example, someone with an MBA degree online and substantial business experience may qualify to teach certain business courses, depending on the college’s requirements.

If you do not plan to earn a Ph.D., focus on building a strong teaching portfolio, documenting professional accomplishments, and targeting institutions that value applied experience.

What skills do you need to be a successful professor?

Successful professors need more than subject knowledge. They must communicate clearly, support student learning, produce or interpret scholarship, manage time, collaborate with colleagues, and adapt as higher education changes.

• Clear communication – Professors need to explain difficult ideas in lectures, discussions, feedback, academic writing, and public presentations.
• Mentorship – Advising students can affect academic performance and persistence. Research shows that students with mentors see a 2% to 20% increase in GPA.
• Time management – Faculty often juggle teaching, grading, research, office hours, meetings, peer review, and service deadlines.
• Critical thinking – Professors evaluate evidence, challenge assumptions, design research questions, and teach students how to reason independently.
• Adaptability – Teaching tools, student expectations, research methods, and institutional priorities change over time.
• Collaboration – Many faculty roles require coauthoring papers, serving on committees, mentoring graduate students, and coordinating with staff or administrators.
• Ethical judgment – Professors must handle grading, research integrity, student privacy, authorship, and conflicts of interest responsibly.

How can you increase your chances of becoming a professor?

You can improve your chances by building a focused profile early. The strongest candidates usually do not try to look qualified for every academic job. They show a clear fit for a specific field, institution type, teaching area, and research or professional agenda.

1. Choose the right graduate program. Look for faculty whose research or professional expertise aligns with your goals. Ask about placement outcomes, teaching opportunities, funding, mentoring, and time to completion.
2. Build teaching evidence before applying. Seek assistantships, guest lectures, adjunct work, online teaching, or supervised instruction. Save syllabi, evaluations, sample assignments, and teaching reflections.
3. Publish strategically. Work with advisors to identify realistic journals, conferences, edited volumes, or professional outlets that fit your discipline.
4. Develop a clear academic identity. Be able to explain what you teach, what you study, why it matters, and how it fits the department’s needs.
5. Network professionally. Attend conferences, join scholarly associations, collaborate on projects, and maintain relationships with mentors and peers.
6. Consider stepping-stone roles. Postdoctoral fellowships, visiting professorships, lecturer roles, and adjunct positions can build experience, though candidates should weigh pay, benefits, and long-term stability.
7. Keep backup pathways open. Academic hiring can be unpredictable, so consider research, policy, consulting, administration, industry, or education technology roles related to your expertise.

Some candidates use shorter graduate programs to build specialized knowledge before deciding on a doctorate. For example, 1 year master’s programs online may help certain students strengthen credentials quickly, although they do not replace a Ph.D. when a doctorate is required.

Common mistakes to avoid

Here’s What Graduates Have to Say about Becoming a College Professor

Questions to Ask Before Choosing the Professor Path

• Do I want a research-heavy, teaching-heavy, applied, or administrative academic career?
• Is a Ph.D. required for the roles I want, or would a master’s, EdD, J.D., M.D., MBA, or professional credential be more appropriate?
• How long will my graduate training take, and how will I pay for it?
• Will the program give me teaching experience, research mentoring, and publication support?
• Where do graduates of the program actually work?
• Am I willing to relocate for academic jobs?
• What nonacademic careers could I pursue if I do not secure a tenure-track position?
• Does my target field have enough openings to justify the time and cost of preparation?

References:

• Cobb, K. (2024, August 13). Teaching load and equivalencies. Limestone Faculty/Staff Handbook. https://fac-staff-hb.limestone.edu/teaching-load-and-equivalencies
• Graduate Teaching Assistant Demographics and Statistics [2025]: Number of graduate teaching assistants in the US. (2025, January 8). https://www.zippia.com/graduate-teaching-assistant-jobs/demographics/
• Occupational Outlook Handbook - Postsecondary Teachers. (2025, February). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved March 6, 2025, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/postsecondary-teachers.htm Graduate Teaching Assistant Demographics and Statistics
• Resource for journal acceptance rates. (n.d.). Academia Stack Exchange. https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/13192/resource-for-journal-acceptance-rates
• Staff, C. (2024, January 31). How long does it take to get a PhD? Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/articles/how-long-does-it-take-to-get-a-phd

Key Insights

• Most tenure-track professor roles require a Ph.D., but community colleges, adjunct roles, professional programs, and applied fields may accept a master’s or professional degree.
• The best degree path depends on your target institution. Research universities reward publications and grants; teaching-focused colleges place more weight on classroom performance; community colleges often prioritize instruction and student support.
• Teaching experience should be built early through assistantships, adjunct work, tutoring, online teaching, or professional instruction.
• Publishing is essential for research-oriented careers, but expectations vary by field and institution type.
• Tenure can provide long-term stability, but the path is competitive and usually involves six to seven years of evaluation.
• Professor salaries vary widely by field. The average full-time professor salary was $112,300 in 2023–24, with higher averages in law, health specialties, and economics.
• You can become a college professor without a Ph.D. in some settings, but your options will be more limited.
• The smartest strategy is to match your credentials, teaching record, research profile, and job search to a specific academic career goal rather than pursuing degrees without a clear plan.