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Teaching assistant vs tutor

The differences between teaching assistants and tutors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a teaching assistant has an average salary of $36,519, which is higher than the $33,998 average annual salary of a tutor.

The top three skills for a teaching assistant include lab experiments, laboratory experiments and TA. The most important skills for a tutor are math, mathematics, and academic subjects.

Teaching assistant vs tutor overview

Teaching AssistantTutor
Yearly salary$36,519$33,998
Hourly rate$17.56$16.35
Growth rate--
Number of jobs59,46545,543
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 70%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age4442
Years of experience--

What does a teaching assistant do?

Teaching assistants are employees who aid teachers in activities needed to deliver lessons. They are usually junior employees or even students who are doing part-time work. Teaching assistants usually set up classrooms, prepare handouts, and give out these handouts in the classroom. They may also be tapped to help prepare presentation materials, source items for classroom demonstration purposes, and assist in the conduct of the lesson. Teaching assistants also help collect schoolwork from students and may also assist teachers in checking schoolwork.

What does a tutor do?

Tutors are individual contributors who make sure that students assigned to them can understand classroom lessons. They are often full-time educators themselves, but they may also be working in other fields and are only passionate about teaching. Tutors usually meet students after school to go over any lesson that the students find challenging. They assist students with their homework or other schoolwork that the students may need help in. At times, tutors are tapped to help students study for future lessons, meaning that they go through classroom lessons in advance.

Teaching assistant vs tutor salary

Teaching assistants and tutors have different pay scales, as shown below.

Teaching AssistantTutor
Average salary$36,519$33,998
Salary rangeBetween $22,000 And $59,000Between $22,000 And $52,000
Highest paying CityPhiladelphia, PAStratford, CT
Highest paying statePennsylvaniaConnecticut
Best paying companyPace UniversitySt. John's College
Best paying industryEducationProfessional

Differences between teaching assistant and tutor education

There are a few differences between a teaching assistant and a tutor in terms of educational background:

Teaching AssistantTutor
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 70%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorPsychologyPsychology
Most common college-Duke University

Teaching assistant vs tutor demographics

Here are the differences between teaching assistants' and tutors' demographics:

Teaching AssistantTutor
Average age4442
Gender ratioMale, 42.4% Female, 57.6%Male, 37.0% Female, 63.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.5% Asian, 11.6% White, 54.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 11.5% White, 56.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage6%11%

Differences between teaching assistant and tutor duties and responsibilities

Teaching assistant example responsibilities.

  • Lead well-received labs aim at students learning SAS including: data step, general regression models building and plots generating.
  • Develop and lead ELA lessons at the 8th grade level, with an emphasis on critical reading and literary analysis.
  • Assist classmates with developing positive study habits and strategies for managing classroom material.
  • Lead discussion sections for students to understand concepts including introductory quantum theory and statistical thermodynamics as well as their applications.
  • Develop expanded communication and teaching skills on explaining the human anatomy and its functions to achieve student understanding and patient education.
  • Organize and run review sessions design to help students better understand concepts of animal anatomy and physiology.
  • Show more

Tutor example responsibilities.

  • Used different tools to achieve student success such as the whiteboard, websites, and role playing.
  • Work with students in kindergarten through calculus to teach math concepts in small group or individual settings.
  • Tutor advance placement high school students in biology, chemistry, anatomy & physiology, and environmental science.
  • Provide outstanding in home tutoring to various struggling students grades k-12 with emphasis on improving reading and math skills.
  • Tutor a high school student diagnose with both ADHD and autism using a specify teaching plan in the subject of mathematics.
  • Tutor student-athletes one-on-one to improve course content understanding, following all NCAA regulations
  • Show more

Teaching assistant vs tutor skills

Common teaching assistant skills
  • Lab Experiments, 20%
  • Laboratory Experiments, 10%
  • TA, 6%
  • Organic Chemistry, 6%
  • Mathematics, 6%
  • Undergraduate Courses, 4%
Common tutor skills
  • Math, 26%
  • Mathematics, 12%
  • Academic Subjects, 5%
  • Muse, 4%
  • Organic Chemistry, 4%
  • Literature, 3%

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