Earn an Online Bachelors Degree in Education

You know those people who love doing homework and derive satisfaction from earning good grades and acing tests? Perhaps you're one of them? We’re guessing you might be since you want to earn an online bachelors degree in education. Or, maybe you’re now panicked, hovering your pointer over the “X” on your browser and threatening to abandon teaching pronto.

Perhaps you’re thinking, “Seriously? People like doing homework? Is that a requirement for becoming a teacher?” If that’s you, please don’t leave. Take a deep breath. You might want to be a teacher for another reason.

  • Perhaps you love the power and freedom that education affords, and you want to give youth access to quality education.
  • Maybe you’re a ham (not the kind you eat on a sandwich, of course, but one who adores the spotlight and wants to land the coveted role of “teacher.”). Maybe you want to appease your inner performer, make a difference, and earn a paycheck.
  • Maybe you were inspired by your favorite teachers to share your knowledge with future generations and encourage their success.

No matter your reason for being here, we’re confident you’re in the right place. Here you can find your perfect online bachelors degree in education and see why teaching is such a valued profession.

Tips & Tricks to Make It All Easier

Plus, there are a ton of tools available to help make this whole degree thing just a little bit easier for you. Self-paced learning, for example, is a type of program in which you can earn your degree in a way that is most convenient for you. You just need a solid online connection and the classroom is at your fingertips! If you're a busy professional or a working mom—or just anyone pulled in too many directions by your crazy life!—you need to hear about this! Read all about self-paced online programs here.

Accelerated degree programs are another option for you to think about. Just like it sounds, accelerated programs allow you to speed up the process of earning a degree. They're usually geared toward students who are pretty sure they want a masters degree as well. Learn more about accelerated degrees right here.

Did you know?

Thanks in part to educational gains among minorities and women, millennials are currently on track to be the most educated generation in history compared with older generations when they were the same age.i

Teachers Know a Million Things. How Can I Possibly Learn So Much?   

That’s a great question. The answer? You can study tons of subjects. Here are some common areas for interdisciplinary exploration in education:

  • Teaching foundations
  • Diversity in the classroom
  • Planning and preparing lessons
  • Methods for educating students
  • Educational psychology
  • Educational leadership

In addition, you might study subjects you plan to teach in depth (like math, science, social studies, English, art, or exercise science) and take classes to learn about teaching to demographics. For example, you might learn how to teach special education, early childhood education, or adult education. Or you might learn how to work with historically oppressed populations, populations in rural areas, or populations with special needs. The possibiities are close to endless.   

You also have options for specialization. Common options include:

  • Early childhood education (teaching younger kiddos, typically up to kindergarten age)  
  • Elementary education (teaching older-younger kids, typically from kindergarten to grade six)
  • Secondary education (teaching students who swear they’re not kids, but who you might still see as kids, typically from grades six through 12)
  • Special education (teaching students with disabilities and special needs)
  • Adult education (teaching adults and helping them earn GEDs and other credentials)
  • English language education (teaching students for whom English is not a first language)

On Priniciple

You might also opt to ditch the classroom and head to the principal’s office. If that’s the case, or if you otherwise want to work in administration, you might specialize in:

  • Education administration (to help shape the future of schools and districts)
  • Education and public policy (to help shape the policies that shape public education)
  • Instructional design (to help design what’s taught in educational settings. Basically, to help design curricula)

Don’t Forget!

Earning a bachelors degree means taking two years of super fascinating classes in teaching and two years of classes that fill general education requirements. General education classes, while perhaps not obviously connected to teaching, help you develop your listening, reading, writing, speaking, and critical thinking skills. General education courses cover subjects in humanities, English, math, government, natural science, and more!

What's the Deal on Dollars for Teaching the Next Generations?

Payment is important! How else will you pay your bills and enjoy summers off? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2015 survey:

  • Kindergarten and elementary school teachers earned a median annual salary of $55,490ii
  • Middle school teachers earned a median annual salary of $56,720iii
  • High school teachers earned a median annual salary of $58,030iv
  • Special education teachers earned a median annual salary of $57,910v
  • Instructional coordinators earned a median annual salary of $62,460vi
  • Elementary, middle, and high school principals earned a median annual salary of $92,510vii

Teachers Are Special People, So Thank You in Advance for Being One!

Teachers are special for obvious reasons! They pick up our youth, brush ‘em off, and fill their minds with sacred knowledge. Then they send them off into the world to take care of us when we’re old. Teachers train the minds that will eventually navigate government, evolve technology, build business, and orchestrate a functional and fabulous society. We want them taught well, don’t we? We do, indeed.

But teaching is a dynamic job. It requires the skills of people who not only know how to administer education, but also do the following:

  • Navigate diversity and ensure that all people, no matter their color of skin, the dollars in their pockets, their backgrounds, or their learning abilities, get to use their brains.     
  • Help shape how students—important human beings with minds and hearts— communicate with other human beings.  
  • Help dictate whether or not students know how to use mathematics to calculate the various costs of living in our world. Staving off future student loan debt, avoiding the smooth talk of a slick sales rep, and calculating their fair portion of the dinner bill are just some skills they might develop.
  • Make students excited to experience other cultures, respect differences between cultures, and embrace communities of people throughout the U.S. and the world.
  • Help students distinguish fake news from real news and be the kind of people who stand for honesty, kindness, and contribution.

No pressure or anything, but you, as a teacher, will be one of the people to shape our future generation. In the teaching world, that idea can seem a bit cliché. But it’s true, and it’s serious! Our world depends on teachers, and our collective hope is that your good nature, skills, and talents will pass on to future generations and ultimately make our world a better place to live. So get started with your education already, okay?

Did You Know?

While American students have improved in math and science over the past two decades, they remain behind students in other industrialized nations.i And, approximately two thirds of the world’s least literate adults are women. Finally, more than 70% of America’s inmates cannot read beyond a 4th grade level.viii Maybe you can affect statistics like these by becoming the next great educator.

Now That I’m Clear How Special I Am, What’s Next?   

Becoming a teacher is simple, but not easy. Here are the four simple steps to landing the role of educator in the next school play:

Step One: Earn a Bachelors Degree - Possibly an Online Bachelors Degree in Education

This starting point leads directly to your next three steps (See? Simple.). There are several types of bachelors degrees you might pursue:

  • A Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education
  • A Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education
  • A Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies
  • A Bachelor of Arts in English Composition, Math, or Science (with an emphasis in education)
  • Online Bachelors Degree in Education

These are just some of many. Look at the sponsored listings on this page and you’ll see many more!

Step Two: Student Teach During Your Online Bachelors Degree in Education

Teaching isn’t easy. While the tall, smart, old people who stood at the front of your classroom seemed perfectly pulled together (or not, in some cases), you must understand that they trained and trained and trained to become that way. Enter student teaching.

Student teaching puts you in the classroom, at the front of the room, with real students (Remember! Breathe! Don’t leave!). Working with a mentor, you’ll learn how to apply what you’ve been studying in your online bachelors degree.

Student teaching typically happens during the last two semesters of your degree program. To graduate, you must do a great job and demonstrate that you’re ready to take on classrooms in your own wonderful way. 

Step Three: Get Your Teaching Credential

Different states, school districts, and places of employment have different requirements for holding a license or credential. Public schools typically require you to have a license of credential. Private and charter schools may or may not.

To determine what licenses and credentials you need, check with the state in which you intend to live and teach, the school where you’d like to be employed, and the school through which you’re earning your online bachelors degree in education. The collective should give you appropriate guidance.

Step Four: Contribute Your Talents

This is just a fancy way of saying, “Start teaching!” This step, of course, is the big goal. Achieving it begins right here, with just one more step.  

Step Five: Begin Your Journey and Earn an Online Bachelors Degree in Education!   

This is technically step one (not five), since it puts you on the path to pursuing an online bachelors degree in education.

  1. First, browse through the programs listed on this site.
  2. Next, click on them to get more information and to school yourself on what’s available.
  3. Then, consider all your options and, like you would on a multiple choice test, pick the best answer. If you’re not sure which is best, select “D”, all of the above, and request more information from schools that offer an online bachelors degree in education through our website.

i pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/08/10/5-facts-about-americas-students/ ii bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/kindergarten-and-elementary-school-teachers.htm iii bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/middle-school-teachers.htm iv bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/high-school-teachers.htm v bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/special-education-teachers.htm vi bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/instructional-coordinators.htm vii bls.gov/ooh/management/elementary-middle-and-high-school-principals.htm viii www.factretriever.com/education-and-literacy-facts