Teaching Assistants

Types of Degrees Teaching Assistants Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	1,506
Associate Degree	820
Undergraduate Certificate	595
Master’s Degree	9
Graduate Certificate	7
Bachelor’s Degree	5

What Teaching Assistants Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to teaching assistants were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Teaching Assistants Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in teaching assistants 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.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• 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.
• 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 Teaching Assistants Majors

teaching assistants majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• 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.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.

Abilities for Teaching Assistants Majors

Teaching Assistants majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• 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.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Teaching Assistants Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with teaching assistants:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Teacher Assistants	8.4%	$26,970

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Teaching Assistants?

This is one of the most frequently chosen teaching majors. It is the 14th most popular in the country with 2 students graduating with a bachelor’s in teaching assistants in 2021. This major is dominated by women with about 60% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	3
White	1
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	1

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Teaching Assistants

Some degrees associated with teaching assistants 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.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to teaching assistants have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.8%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	18.5%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	22.2%
Some College Courses	17.8%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	16.8%
Bachelor’s Degree	12.0%
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.	3.3%
Master’s Degree	9.5%
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.	0.6%

Online Teaching Assistants 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)	72	13
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	1
Associate’s Degree	124	31
Bachelor’s Degree	5	4
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	6	1
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Teaching Assistants

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

Major	Number of Grads
Teacher Education Grade Specific	106,652
Educational Administration	43,921
Teacher Education Subject Specific	40,101
Special Education	34,843
General Education	27,845
Curriculum & Instruction	20,472
Student Counseling	14,512
Instructional Media Design	8,912
Teaching English or French	5,030
Other Education	4,693
Educational Assessment	4,249
Multilingual Education	1,654
Education Philosophy	959
International Education	317

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 IMCBerea College under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.