Depending on the state where you teach, you may be required to obtain a master’s degree after you earn your teaching certificate and land a job.
Earning a Master’s in Education will generally qualify you to work as an instructional coordinator, which is one of the highest-paying jobs in this field.
To reach the top of this field and work as a postsecondary teacher, you’ll likely need a Ph.D. — before you can reach that goal, you’ll first need to earn a master’s degree. You may also be able to teach at a community college with just a Master’s in Education.
This list features some of the best online master’s in education programs at top colleges across the country. Each school featured is a nonprofit, accredited institution — either public or private — with a high standard of academic quality for post-secondary institutions.
We evaluated each school’s program on tuition costs, admission, retention and graduation rates, faculty, and reputation as well as the student resources provided for online students. Then we calculated the Intelligent Score on a scale of 0 to 100. Read more about our ranking methodology.
Next, we compared this comprehensive list of online master’s in education programs to a list of aggregated college rankings from reputable publications like the U.S. News & World Report among others to simplify a student’s college search. We pored through these rankings so students don’t have to.
There’s something to be said for pursuing knowledge for its own sake. Earning a Master’s in Education can open doors into a new specialization, help you focus on a particular field, and expand your knowledge of techniques and teaching methods.
That said, if you’re primarily interested in making a larger paycheck, there’s a couple things you should know.
Pay increases vary by state and by district. If you’re a teacher in Washington state, getting a Master’s in Education makes sense — you can increase your maximum earning potential by $20,000 per year. However, if you’re in Ohio, that pay bump only looks like $1,000 per year.
Not all states pay more for higher education degrees. Texas and North Carolina have both eliminated pay bumps for advanced degrees. This means that teachers in these states will be paid based on experience and personal merit, without consideration for their level of education.
This means two things. First, if you’re looking for a pay increase and are flexible about where you live, you might be able to make more money by moving to a district which pays more. Second, if you know where you want to live, you can look up the typical salary expectations of that district to see whether earning a Master’s degree makes financial sense.
You should research financial aid opportunities like fellowships and scholarships, and apply for the Free Application for Federal Student Student Aid (FAFSA) no later than June 30th. Also watch out for the individual deadlines for program applications — some schools might not admit on a rolling basis.
If you’d like to see how quickly you can earn your degree back based on the state you want to teach in, the National Center for Education Statistics has your back. They collect data on salaries for teachers based on highest degree attained, level of experience, and school type and location.
Next, if you’re planning on earning a licensure through your online degree (not available from every program), you’ll want to look into your local state’s licensing requirements. While the U.S. Department of Education maintains national standards for online education, some states have stricter regulations and may not recognize a degree completed out of state as authorization for licensure. If in doubt, contact your local department of education for more information.
Finally, you’ll want to do a quick check into whether your local school district will recognize your online program’s accreditation. Not all of the universities on our list have been accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). Sometimes called NCATE, CAEP accreditation is the gold standard for educators and means that your degree will be accepted by employers nationally. If a university doesn’t have CAEP accreditation, it’s not a deal-breaker — they’re still rigorous programs that have accreditation from other agencies. You’ll just need to ask your local department of education to make sure your degree will be recognized by local employers.