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Substitute teacher's assistant education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a substitute teacher's assistant. Substitute teacher's assistants usually study business, psychology, or elementary education. 54% of substitute teacher's assistants hold a bachelor's degree, and 23% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 6,414 real substitute teacher's assistant resumes to see exactly what substitute teacher's assistant education sections show.

The most common colleges for substitute teacher's assistants are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.

There are also many online substitute teacher's assistant courses to help get the education required to be a substitute teacher's assistant.

There are certain substitute teacher's assistant certifications that you should consider. These substitute teacher's assistant certifications include Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) and Medical Assistant.

What education do you need to become a substitute teacher's assistant?

What degree do you need to be a substitute teacher's assistant?

The most common degree for substitute teacher's assistants is bachelor's degree, with 54% of substitute teacher's assistants earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 23% and associate degree degree at 9%.
  • Bachelor's, 54%
  • Associate, 23%
  • High School Diploma, 9%
  • Master's, 9%
  • Other Degrees, 5%

What should I major in to become a substitute teacher's assistant?

You should major in business to become a substitute teacher's assistant. 15% of substitute teacher's assistants major in business. Other common majors for a substitute teacher's assistant include psychology and elementary education.

Most common colleges for substitute teacher's assistants

Substitute teacher's assistants often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, New York University, and Ashford University. Here are the most common colleges for substitute teacher's assistants in the US based on their resumes.
Substitute teacher's assistant common collegePercentages
University of Phoenix16.50%
New York University7.11%
Ashford University6.09%
Old Dominion University5.58%
Grand Canyon University5.58%

Best majors for substitute teacher's assistants

Best colleges for substitute teacher's assistants

The best colleges for substitute teacher's assistants are Northwestern University, Stanford University, and Johns Hopkins University.

A substitute teacher's assistant with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for substitute teacher's assistants. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become substitute teacher's assistants.

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

2. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

3. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

4. SUNY Stony Brook

Stony Brook, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,625

Enrollment

17,407

5. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

6. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

7. Howard University

Washington, DC • Private

In-state tuition

$26,756

Enrollment

6,166

8. SUNY at Albany

Albany, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$10,011

Enrollment

13,434

9. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

10. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-state tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

20 best online courses for substitute teacher's assistants

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1. Educating Deaf Children: Becoming an Empowered Teacher

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Many Deaf children around the world still leave school functionally illiterate. In some cases, there is no allowance made for the education of Deaf children at all. This 4-week course provides you with invaluable knowledge and skills about teaching Deaf children. You will learn about the importance of Deaf culture and community, the need for a language-rich environment for the Deaf child from as young as possible, and that having access to sign language can help Deaf children academically,...

2. Music Education for Teachers

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In the Music Education for Teachers specialization, you will explore ways of integrating popular music into your teaching. You'll begin by learning from two highly experienced teachers, Krystal Banfield, the Vice President of Educational Outreach for Berklee College of Music, and David Alexis a Berklee Professor and long-time instructor for the Berklee City Music Program. They will take you through their process of incorporating popular music, improvisation, arranging, and music technology into...

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5. The Teacher and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)

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Social and emotional learning, or SEL, programs have flourished in schools during the last decade. These programs vary widely but most share a concern for five individual, student competencies: self awareness; self-management; social awareness; relationship skills; and finally responsible decision making. It is important for teachers and parents to know about and understand these programs. While lots of SEL programs emphasize K-12 student social and emotional learning, only a very few programs...

6. Activity Design with PhET Simulations for STEM Education

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PhET Interactive Simulations ( https://phet.colorado.edu/ ), a project of the University of Colorado Boulder, provides fun, free, interactive, research-based science and mathematics simulations for use across, primary, secondary, and higher education levels. We extensively test and evaluate each simulation to ensure educational effectiveness. All simulations are open source and free to all students and teachers. In this course, we will review strategies for how to use PhET to create sim-based...

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2% That’s the estimate of how many high school students in all of California took a Computer Science class in 2015. And yet, computers and data are everywhere. Just consider a typical 24 hours in your life … how many different computer devices do you use? We all live in multiple digital worlds that are changing rapidly with new apps, devices, and data analyses offering a constant stream of innovations and technology integrations for our lives.\n\nAs it's an integral part of our lives, we’re...

10. Active Learning in STEM with PhET Interactive Simulations

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Learn how to engage your students and enhance learning in math and science with free virtual labs and simulations from the University of Colorado Boulder's PhET Interactive Simulations project (https://phet.colorado.edu/en). In this specialization, you will explore active learning strategies that you can incorporate into your own classroom, either online or in person. You will also learn how to evaluate the effectiveness of a learning experience by implementing a simulation-based lesson plan in...

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13. THINK GLOBAL: TEACHERS TRAINING COURSE (IDP-ICE)

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14. Virtual Teacher Final Project

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The Final Project will be a hands-on, comprehensive project that practitioners of virtual education can implement in their profession. For this final project, learners will draft a design plan for an online learning module utilizing materials learned from the virtual teacher series. Learners will choose the subject matter, method of delivery, tools, instructional strategies, and assessments, with the goal of creating a module of online or blended instruction that meets the needs of their...

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Top 10 most affordable universities for substitute teacher's assistants

The most affordable schools for substitute teacher's assistants are Baruch College of the City University of New York, california state university - bakersfield, and california state university - long beach.

If the best universities for substitute teacher's assistants are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for substitute teacher's assistants.

1. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,262

Cost of attendance

14,046

2. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

3. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

4. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

5. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

6. USF Sarasota-Manatee

Sarasota, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,587

Cost of attendance

13,043

7. University of South Florida

Tampa, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,410

Cost of attendance

20,456

8. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Brooklyn, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,240

Cost of attendance

13,991

9. Hunter College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,182

Cost of attendance

13,998

10. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for substitute teacher's assistants

The hardest universities for substitute teacher's assistants to get into are Northwestern University, Stanford University, and Johns Hopkins University.

Some great schools for substitute teacher's assistants are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for substitute teacher's assistants based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

4%

SAT average

1,497

3. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

4. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

Admissions rate

9%

SAT average

1,516

5. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

Admissions rate

17%

SAT average

1,507

6. Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,506

7. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,492

8. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

9. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,512

10. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for substitute teacher's assistants

The easiest schools for substitute teacher's assistants to get into are Notre Dame de Namur University, bluefield college, and oklahoma wesleyan university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a substitute teacher's assistant without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for substitute teacher's assistants.

1. Notre Dame de Namur University

Belmont, CA • Private

Admissions rate

82%

SAT average

983

2. Bluefield College

Bluefield, VA • Private

Admissions rate

95%

SAT average

980

3. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

4. Life University

Marietta, GA • Private

Admissions rate

94%

SAT average

979

5. D'Youville College

Buffalo, NY • Private

Admissions rate

100%

SAT average

1,072

6. Holy Names University

Oakland, CA • Private

Admissions rate

70%

SAT average

849

7. Notre Dame College

Cleveland, OH • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

994

8. Kean University

Union, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

86%

SAT average

991

9. Holy Family University

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

72%

SAT average

1,017

10. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,031

Average substitute teacher's assistant salary by education level

Substitute teacher's assistants with a Doctorate degree earn more than those without, at $34,480 annually. With a Master's degree, substitute teacher's assistants earn a median annual income of $33,925 compared to $31,957 for substitute teacher's assistants with an Bachelor's degree.
Substitute teacher's assistant education levelSubstitute teacher's assistant salary
Master's Degree$33,925
High School Diploma or Less$31,018
Bachelor's Degree$31,957
Doctorate Degree$34,480
Some College/ Associate Degree$31,309

Substitute teacher's assistant education FAQs

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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