1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
An academic instructor is a teacher who instructs students on various subjects, depending upon the instructor's focus and expertise. These professionals prepare lectures and lesson plans and evaluate the progress of student knowledge with quizzes, exams, and papers. Academic instructors assess, record, and establish goals for student progress and work to ensure that each student understands the material and succeeds academically.
Academic instructors work in a variety of classroom settings, from elementary schools to universities, and typically work during normal school hours. They teach according to the educational needs and abilities of each student, assign work, grade papers, tests, and assignments, and offer advice to students on educational and career goals.
Academic instructors possess excellent communication, interpersonal, organizational, and public speaking skills and should be comfortable with various forms of instructional media, including computers and video equipment.
Most academic instructors have a bachelor's in the area in which they teach, such as education, chemistry, or early childhood education, and in the US must have a teaching license if working in a K-12 school. However, for those individuals who have comparable knowledge or experience, alternative licensing is available.
Depending on the subject and the school, academic instructors can make up to $49,000 a year, but the career field in the US is expected to drop 10% by 2028.
There are certain skills that many academic instructors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed cultural sensitivity, communication skills and resourcefulness.
If you're interested in becoming an academic instructor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 61.2% of academic instructors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 23.2% of academic instructors have master's degrees. Even though most academic instructors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of adjunct professor you might progress to a role such as owner eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title center director.
What Am I Worth?
There are several types of academic instructor, including:
Role:
Role:
Role:
Mouse over a state to see the number of active academic instructor jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where academic instructors earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
---|---|---|---|
1 | California | 3,548 | $61,647 |
2 | Texas | 2,133 | $43,290 |
3 | Florida | 1,972 | $40,551 |
4 | Illinois | 1,486 | $45,054 |
5 | New York | 1,479 | $63,433 |
6 | Virginia | 1,333 | $42,598 |
7 | New Jersey | 1,245 | $48,071 |
8 | North Carolina | 1,230 | $43,896 |
9 | Michigan | 1,179 | $39,691 |
10 | Colorado | 1,160 | $36,391 |
11 | Georgia | 1,154 | $37,561 |
12 | Pennsylvania | 1,071 | $53,931 |
13 | Arizona | 985 | $43,825 |
14 | Maryland | 958 | $53,889 |
15 | Massachusetts | 889 | $51,306 |
16 | Ohio | 884 | $44,612 |
17 | Minnesota | 739 | $47,620 |
18 | Washington | 677 | $54,701 |
19 | South Carolina | 651 | $47,265 |
20 | Connecticut | 542 | $42,531 |
21 | Tennessee | 541 | $35,566 |
22 | Missouri | 537 | $34,849 |
23 | Oregon | 522 | $45,694 |
24 | Indiana | 518 | $48,689 |
25 | Nevada | 505 | $40,059 |
26 | Wisconsin | 448 | $46,976 |
27 | Iowa | 425 | $40,169 |
28 | Alabama | 367 | $45,259 |
29 | Louisiana | 351 | $46,953 |
30 | Kentucky | 341 | $39,090 |
31 | Oklahoma | 325 | $32,066 |
32 | Kansas | 323 | $46,709 |
33 | Utah | 284 | $36,607 |
34 | New Mexico | 283 | $37,299 |
35 | New Hampshire | 272 | $41,873 |
36 | Mississippi | 252 | $35,259 |
37 | Nebraska | 240 | $34,841 |
38 | Idaho | 237 | $50,097 |
39 | Montana | 227 | $48,152 |
40 | Delaware | 198 | $41,614 |
41 | Arkansas | 191 | $35,166 |
42 | West Virginia | 173 | $41,709 |
43 | Maine | 167 | $56,207 |
44 | Vermont | 143 | $40,847 |
45 | Rhode Island | 135 | $42,567 |
46 | Wyoming | 128 | $45,169 |
47 | Alaska | 126 | $43,594 |
48 | Hawaii | 119 | $52,055 |
49 | South Dakota | 111 | $46,908 |
50 | North Dakota | 101 | $53,814 |
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
Evanston, IL • Private
In-State Tuition
$54,568
Enrollment
8,451
Boston, MA • Private
In-State Tuition
$53,948
Enrollment
17,238
New York, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$51,828
Enrollment
26,339
Cambridge, MA • Private
In-State Tuition
$50,420
Enrollment
7,582
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
In-State Tuition
$8,987
Enrollment
18,946
San Diego, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$7,488
Enrollment
30,018
Buffalo, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$10,099
Enrollment
21,404
Stanford, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$51,354
Enrollment
7,083
Seattle, WA • Private
In-State Tuition
$11,207
Enrollment
30,905
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 15.0% of academic instructors listed mathematics on their resume, but soft skills such as cultural sensitivity and communication skills are important as well.
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Academic Instructor templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Academic Instructor resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
1. English and Academic Preparation - Pre-Collegiate
The English and Academic Preparation - Pre-Collegiate non-credit course is for students with a (minimum) high-intermediate level of English. This certificate course is designed to help domestic and international students develop the academic skills necessary for success in undergraduate studies at an American university while strengthening their English proficiency. Ideally, prospective students have completed or are near completion of a high school diploma in their country and would like to...
See More on Coursera2. Academic Skills for University Success
Develop skills in information & digital literacy, problem-solving, critical thinking and communication.\n\nThis Specialization is a high-level academic skills course designed to increase your level of academic preparedness prior to commencement of your studies in an English-medium university. The course equips you for full participation and engagement with your studies by building awareness and understanding of the core values and expectations of academic culture...
See More on Coursera3. Academic English: Writing
The skills taught in this Specialization will empower you to succeed in any college-level course or professional field. You’ll learn to conduct rigorous academic research and to express your ideas clearly in an academic format. In the final Capstone Project, all the knowledge that you’ve gained over the span of these courses will culminate into an academic research paper on an issue of your choice...
See More on CourseraSome places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an academic instructor. The best states for people in this position are New York, California, Maine, and Washington. Academic instructors make the most in New York with an average salary of $63,433. Whereas in California and Maine, they would average $61,647 and $56,207, respectively. While academic instructors would only make an average of $54,701 in Washington, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Maine
$56,207
Avg. Salary
2. New York
$63,433
Avg. Salary
3. California
$61,647
Avg. Salary
Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kean University | $61,521 | $29.58 | 8 |
2 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | $59,674 | $28.69 | 12 |
3 | China Construction America | $58,685 | $28.21 | 13 |
4 | Culver City Unified School District | $53,427 | $25.69 | 6 |
5 | Tallahatchie Valley Electric Power Association | $50,259 | $24.16 | 7 |
6 | Georgia State University | $49,739 | $23.91 | 6 |
7 | USAF Police Alumni Association | $48,594 | $23.36 | 11 |
8 | United States Marine Corps | $48,494 | $23.31 | 12 |
9 | Job Corps | $48,195 | $23.17 | 19 |
10 | US Air Conditioning Distributors | $47,813 | $22.99 | 20 |