Colorado Technical University

Do you have to have a doctoral degree to teach at a community college?

...or would a Master of Arts in Teaching degree as well as a Bachelor of Arts in English degree work? I've heard several different things, so I'm curious.

Public Comments

1. No, a master’s degree is more than sufficient for a community college.
2. I've always heard that a Master's can get you a position at a junior or community college whereas you need a doctorate to get a job with a university.
3. Very few if any community colleges require a doctorate to teach there.
4. I teach part time in a university with just an MEd.
5. Some community colleges even accept vocational training in the subject matter with no degree. And some may only require a bachelors to start. Depends on the need in your area and the subject matter. I taught plumbing at a community college years ago with one year of college and a master plumber's license. good luck, peace
6. It depends on the field and the need for a teacher. Most junior/community college teachers have at least a master's degree in the field of expertise. Some teachers are hard enough to come by that they will settle for a bachelor's degree. If you are planning to teach English, your credentials won't likely cut the mustard. My opinion would be that there are also a lot of masters' in education, but who knows, try an Alaskan college or some other rural area.
7. My experience with our community college system in CA is no but I have competed with PhD's to get teaching jobs so be aware of this. Is also depends on your field of study. Engineering may require a Ph.D while GIS may not. I know a woman who teaches English that only has a B.A. Overall, no, you do not have to have a PhD to teach at our community colleges but the best thing to do is contact the Dean of the dept where you want to teach and talk to them. Also look at the schedule of classes and if the staff listed as teaching those classes has advanced degrees. This may be on the dept website. Go for it. This is what I say. DTail
8. A Master's is the minium required at most community colleges. In many fields, however, particularly in the liberal arts, there are so many unemployed PhDs, that as a practical matter they can (and frequently do) hire people with doctorates.
9. Masters, but the PHd is still a better guarantee for a top paid and permanent position.
10. Most profs I met who taught at the CC level had masters' degrees, and practical experience.
11. No it's not a condition.
12. No...just experience in the trade!
13. Technically, most community colleges don't require anything higher than a master's, but depending on your field, it would be really hard to get hired to teach at most community colleges without a PhD because there is a glut in the market, especially in fields like English, history, psychology, and many of the hard sciences too. You could probably teach math pretty easily with a master's, but you'd be teaching lower-level math and you'd probably be part time.