How To Become A University Professor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a university professor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Fabio Lanza

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a university professor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $31.04 an hour? That's $64,567 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 12% and produce 159,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a university professor?

Fabio Lanza

Professor, Ashford University

I tell them not to expect that they can achieve the same, old-style academic career (like mine, for example). A tenure-track job in a research university to be clear. Those jobs exist but they are becoming rarer and rarer. I also tell them that if they forecast incurring in serious (or even non-serious) debt in order to get a PhD, they should not do it. They should not pursue that path at all. In the program, they should take all the chances they have to learn new skills, including skills that don't seem directly related to an academic career.

ScoreUniversity ProfessorUS Average

Salary

5.0

Avg. Salary $64,567

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.8

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.28%

Asian 11.36%

Black or African American 6.96%

Hispanic or Latino 9.93%

Unknown 4.90%

White 66.58%

Gender

female 37.04%

male 62.96%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

6.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.0

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a university professor

Explore university professor education requirements

Most common university professor degrees

Bachelor's

57.5 %

Master's

24.2 %

Doctorate

11.9 %

Start to develop specific university professor skills

Skills	Percentages
Undergraduate Courses	10.68%
Sociology	10.20%
Political Science	9.15%
Literature	7.74%
Economics	5.32%

Complete relevant university professor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New university professors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a university professor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real university professor resumes.

Research university professor duties and responsibilities

Used blackboard online to manage students tests, grade papers and assign materials.
Provide assistance in conducting literature reviews on obesity issues and data analysis of her surveys on obesity risk reduction behaviors
Develop syllabus, overall course structure, and administer all grades.
Design and teach courses in leadership, ethics, and professional writing at the collegiate level.

Prepare your university professor resume

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