2021 Teacher Education Subject Specific Degree Guide

A major in Teacher Education & Development prepares you teach different subjects to students. This means you could teach English, history, chemistry, math, or even art. The subject possibilities are endless, what is important is that you focus your major around what you are interested in and also pursue a teaching certificate. Each teacher education program is different based on what college you attend and your focus. This program will prepare to become a classroom teacher on your specific subject.

Every college will require different courses for your degree. You will be required to take content courses based upon your focus. These courses will vary depending on the path you intend to pursue. Education courses will also be required; for example literacy, educational psychology, and teaching methods. Concentrations in this major include anything from Agricultural and Art, to Driver and Safety Ed, Health, Math, Music, Science, Computers, Technology and much more.

Teacher Education Subject Specific Degrees Remain Popular

In 2018-2019, teacher education subject specific was the 23rd most popular major nationwide with 43,516 degrees awarded. This represents small change only 0.6% from the prior year's total of 43,242 subject specific ed degrees awarded.

There are 895 schools offering degrees in teacher education subject specific in the United States. Our 2021 Best Colleges for Teacher Education Subject Specific ranking analyzes 272 of these schools to determine the best overall colleges for teacher education subject specific students. Explore this or one of our many other custom subject specific ed rankings further below.

Requirements for Getting a Degree in Teacher Education Subject Specific

As a teacher, you make the decision about what is being taught in your classroom. You need to have direction and organizational skills in order to make sure what is required by your district is being covered in your classroom. Another skill that is necessary is to be authoritative; it is important to ensure learning will happen in your classroom. You need to be assertive and maintain control while you are teaching your students. However, other important traits of a teacher include patience and creativity. You should also be approachable and kind. Students respect teachers who respect them. Students are also willing to share their problems when teachers show that they are available and they want to help.

Creativity is important in every subject. Students have a short attention span, especially when other students are around to distract them. It is important to use your resources such as technology, other teachers, and items in your community to add to your lessons. An example of this might be teaming up with the science teacher to have a lesson on both the history of mummification and a science lesson on how people were mummified. Then you could all go on a field trip to a museum to view mummies. You cannot be afraid to ask for help or to work with colleagues to make your students learning memorable and exciting.

You should be confident in your subject matter. You should be willing to research to answer difficult questions from your students, while at the same time admitting when you are stumped and get your students on board with figuring out an answer.

In order to become a teacher you must complete a semester of student teaching and become certified in your state. Prior experience working with kids will help you decide if this is the right career for you.

Subject Specific Ed Degree Program Entry Requirements

New students will need to have completed high school or a GED program and each school will have their own minimum GPA and SAT/ACT test requirements. Specific subject specific ed careers may require a certain level of degree attainment or additional certifications beyond that.

Types of Teacher Education Subject Specific Degrees

Subject Specific Ed degree levels vary. You can get anything from a associate's degree in teacher education subject specific to the highest subject specific ed degree, a professional practice doctorate. Teacher Education Subject Specific programs can take anywhere between one to four or more years for a full-time student to complete.

Degree	Credit Requirements	Typical Program Length
Associate Degree	60-70 credits	2 years
Bachelor’s Degree	120 credits	4 years
Master’s Degree	50-70 credits	1-3 years
Doctorate	Program required coursework including thesis or dissertation	At least 4 years

A doctor's degree (research / scholarship) is the most common level of education achieved by those in careers related to subject specific ed, with approximately 43.2% of workers getting one. See the the most common levels of education for subject specific ed workers below.

Level of Education	Percentage of Workers
Doctoral Degree	41.7%
Master’s Degree	23.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	16.6%
Post-Doctoral Training	7.9%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	2.8%

About 50.7% of workers in careers related to subject specific ed obtain at least doctor's degree (research / scholarship). View the chart below to get an idea of what degree level most of those in teacher education subject specific careers have.

The education level required is different depending on the subject specific ed career you are seeking.

Subject Specific Ed Careers

With a degree in teaching you can become a classroom teacher for your specific subjects. Most colleges will require you to get a Master's degree in your concentration which will allow you to succeed in any job in relation to your degree.

Solid Growth Projected for Subject Specific Ed Careers

Want a job when you graduate with your subject specific ed degree? Teacher Education Subject Specific careers are expected to grow 9.4% between 2016 and 2026.

The following options are some of the most in-demand careers related to teacher education subject specific.

Occupation Name	Projected Jobs	Expected Growth
Elementary School Teachers	1,514,900	7.4%
High School Teachers	1,095,500	7.5%
Teachers	1,091,800	9.9%
Middle School Teachers	677,700	7.5%
Fitness Trainers and Aerobics Instructors	329,200	10.0%

How Much Money Do People With a Subject Specific Ed Degree Make?

Recently graduated teacher education subject specific students earned an average of $40,022 in 2017-2018. Earnings can range from as low as $9,100 to as high as $90,700. As you might expect, salaries for subject specific ed graduates vary depending on the level of education that was acquired.

High Paying Careers for Subject Specific Ed Majors

Salaries for teacher education subject specific graduates can vary widely by the occupation you choose as well. The following table shows the top 5 highest paying careers subject specific ed grads often go into.

Occupation Name	Median Average Salary
Health Specialties Professors	$122,320
Economics Professors	$117,180
Physics Postsecondary Professors	$103,830
Business Professors	$103,330
Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Professors	$101,890

Getting Your Teacher Education Subject Specific Degree

With over 8,679 different subject specific ed degree programs to choose from, finding the best fit for you can be a challenge. Fortunately you have come to the right place. We have analyzed all of these schools to come up with hundreds of unbiased subject specific ed school rankings to help you with this.

Teacher Education Subject Specific Related Majors

One of 14 majors within the Education area of study, Teacher Education Subject Specific has other similar majors worth exploring.

Most Popular Majors Related to Subject Specific Ed

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific	100,925
Educational Administration	44,381
General Education	31,066
Special Education	30,639
Curriculum & Instruction	18,767

View All Subject Specific Ed Related Majors >

References

• National Center for Education Statistics

• O*NET Online

• Image Credit: By Aparajita Datta under License More about our data sources and methodologies.