Do you really need to have a Masters Degree to be a teacher?

Question

I live in Nevada and not sure if I'll stay here. I was told all I needed was a Bachelors and now I'm being told Masters. How long does it take to get certified in your state?? Ball park me.

Answer 1

In Texas you need a Bachelors to get your certification. You will need additional hours every so many years after that to stay current. Not sure what it is since my certification is about as old as Noah. I have my Masters and the only advantage it has given me in my district is an additional $1000 a year in my salary. That isn't much. Don't know that it was worth it.

Answer 2

I teach in Texas and I only have a Bachelor's degree. There is not much incentive for us to get a Master's.

If you have a bachelor's degree in Texas, even if you are not certified, you can usually start teaching and just take the alternative certifiaction courses on the weekends or evenings. You can teach for a year while you get certified, just if you don't pass the test by the end of the year, you won't be able to teach a second year without certification.

Answer 3

In New York State you must have a masters degree within a certain amount of time to get permenantly certified. It used to be within five years of your provisional certification, it went down to three, but may have gone back up. Each state unfortunately has different rules. See if you can find a district to hire you that will pay for your masters while you teach.

Answer 4

In our state, Wisconsin, you have to have a teacher's certification. Some universities here have a teacher's education major, which takes 4-5 years to complete, and has the certification as part of the degree. My wife's university had it where you majored in a different field and then took additional classes to obtain the teacher's certification. The major alone took about 4 years and the certification took about 2 years (full time.) I would talk with your college advisers in Nevada, however, before making any major moves.

Answer 5

Hi! I have a Master's and don't neccessarily think it's a good thing when job-hunting because schools would sometimes rather pay less for a less-qualified (at least less-educated) teacher. You don't need a Master's to teach here (in MN), although I'm not sure what grade/s you're talking about. Good luck and try looking for jobs w/o a Master's first :)!!

Answer 6

In TN you can teach with a bachelors but if you do not earn your masters within 10 years, you will have to spend your summers getting extra training..so basically you have to decide if you want to spend your summer in college or training....so those 3 months off work are not really off work, just without kids..no pay for the trainings, higher salary with the masters

Answer 7

I'm in New Jersey. Only a bachelor's is required, but a Master's gives you a higher salary. I did the alternate route to teaching and it took me a little bit over a year.

Answer 8

No...you don't need a Masters Degree unless you want to follow the law and how will you be certified to teach? How will you get a job? No you don't need a masters degree...only if you want to teach

Answer 9

Unfortunately with education every state is different. It sucks because when you have a credential in one state it may not be valid in any other state.
Here in California you have to have your Bachelors Degree plus one extra year of graduate school (student teaching) to get your credential.

Answer 10

nooooooooooooooo you dont need a masters

you need usually a minor in teaching, a bachelors or a masters


send your test scores in and NC woulld have you processed in a couple months. if you have the take a test still then maybe 4? months