Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many secondary education graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	6,072
Bachelor’s Degree	3,583
Associate Degree	655
Graduate Certificate	388
Undergraduate Certificate	186
Basic Certificate	174
Doctor’s Degree	13

What Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to secondary teaching and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Secondary Teaching Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in secondary teaching should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Skills for Secondary Teaching Majors

When studying secondary teaching, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Secondary Teaching Majors

A major in secondary teaching will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Major?

People with a secondary teaching degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	7.5%	$60,320

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in ?

This major is dominated by women with about 61% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of secondary teaching majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	93
Black or African American	129
Hispanic or Latino	326
White	2,770
International Students	40
Other Races/Ethnicities	225

Geographic Diversity

Secondary Teaching appeals to people across the globe. About 1.1% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

The median salary for someone in a career related to secondary teaching is $64,340. This median refers to all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to

Some degrees associated with secondary teaching may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for secondary teaching careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Bachelor’s Degree	52.9%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	14.8%
Master’s Degree	24.3%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	4.3%
Doctoral Degree	4.3%

Online Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	23	3
Certificate (2-4 Years)	4	1
Associate’s Degree	95	19
Bachelor’s Degree	67	20
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	343	62
Post-Master’s	18	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	8	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Worth It?

The median salary for a secondary teaching grad is $64,340 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 61% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $488,800 after 20 years!

Majors Related to

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to secondary teaching.

Major	Number of Grads
Elementary Education	42,862
Early Childhood Education	31,937
Teacher Education	9,653
Teacher Development & Methodology	6,929
Junior High/Intermediate/Middle School Education & Teaching	3,583
Kindergarten/Preschool Education & Teaching	2,913
Adult & Continuing Education	987
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Educational Methods	286
Montessori Teacher Education	236
Online Educator/Online Teaching	153
College/Postsecondary/University Teaching	127
International Teaching and Learning	33

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Vgrigas under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.