Teaching Assistant/Aide

Types of Degrees Teaching Assistant/Aide Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many teaching assistants graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	12
Graduate Certificate	8

What Teaching Assistant/Aide Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, teaching assistants majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Teaching Assistants Majors

Teaching Assistants majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Skills for Teaching Assistants Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to teaching assistants:

• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Teaching Assistants Majors

A major in teaching assistants will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Teaching Assistant/Aide Major?

People with a teaching assistants degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Teacher Assistants	8.4%	$26,970

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Teaching Assistant/Aide?

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of teaching assistants majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	1
White	8
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	2

How Much Do Teaching Assistant/Aide Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $28,750 to $58,110 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to teaching assistants. This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Teaching Assistant/Aide

Some careers associated with teaching assistants require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to teaching assistants have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.8%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	18.5%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	22.2%
Some College Courses	17.8%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	16.8%
Bachelor’s Degree	12.0%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	3.3%
Master’s Degree	9.5%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.6%

Online Teaching Assistant/Aide Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 220 schools offered some type of teaching assistants program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	81	11
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	1
Associate’s Degree	127	19
Bachelor’s Degree	2	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	5	0
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Teaching Assistant/Aide Worth It?

The median salary for a teaching assistants grad is $28,750 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

Majors Related to Teaching Assistant/Aide

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to teaching assistants.

Major	Number of Grads
Educational Administration	45,458
Teacher Education Grade Specific	34,451
Special Education	25,158
General Education	21,189
Teacher Education Subject Specific	20,616
Curriculum & Instruction	19,784
Student Counseling	13,840
Instructional Media Design	8,387
Teaching English or French	4,743
Other Education	2,513
Multilingual Education	1,672
Educational Assessment	1,215
Education Philosophy	421
International Education	257

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By IMCBerea College under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.