How to Become a Professor

Before exploring how to become a professor, ask yourself why you wish to pursue this career. It's not a field you enter on a whim, testing the waters to see if it's for you.

Earning graduate degrees, including a Ph.D., takes years of dedication, hard work, and sacrifice. And the ultimate payoff — a faculty career — could remain elusive given today's job market.

Yet if it's your passion, here's a tried-and-true roadmap for making it happen. Many follow this path, but it's certainly not the only one. After earning my doctorate at Harvard University, I found a different route to a faculty position and now teach as an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University.

Bear in mind that degree requirements, job opportunities, and salaries vary considerably by field, so be sure to investigate further to determine what graduate school and faculty life might be like in your academic discipline.

How to Become a Professor: A 5-Step Guide

Following a five-step process might seem rather straightforward, but any path toward a faculty career is bound to offer challenges and potential roadblocks. Still, this prescription captures how many young scholars find their way into fulfilling faculty positions.

Step 1: Earn Your Bachelor's Degree

Every college professor must hold a bachelor's degree but not necessarily in the same field in which they teach. For example, a history major might go on to earn graduate degrees in sociology. In some fields, a related degree might prove necessary. That same history major might be less apt to pursue advanced degrees in physics.

At the undergraduate level, future professors complete general education requirements, electives, and major coursework. And they may complete an honors project or thesis to better prepare for the rigors of graduate school.

They also generally need strong grades. Most graduate programs require at least a 3.0 GPA for admission.

Step 2: Apply to Graduate School

Attending graduate school is a critical step in becoming a college professor. Before standing before a classroom, future professors must complete advanced training in their discipline.

In addition to strong grades, you may need competitive standardized test scores, though a growing number of universities no longer require the Graduate Record Exam (GRE).

Some doctoral programs admit applicants with only a bachelor's degree, while others require a master's degree.

Coming out of college, you can apply to "sequential" programs that accept students as master's degree candidates with the assumption that they'll move directly into the doctoral program if they demonstrate suitable academic ability. Another option is to pursue a "terminal" master's degree before applying to doctoral programs.

Terminal programs often do not offer financial aid, though students may decide to take out loans or seek other aid to finance their education. Doctoral and sequential programs support students through assistantships, fellowships, and grants.

After gaining admission, graduate students complete coursework requirements and choose a specialty area in which to focus their studies.

Step 3: Pass Comprehensive Exams

Once you finish your coursework, you typically prepare for comprehensive exams. These exams — sometimes known as qualifying exams, general exams, or doctoral exams — test your knowledge of their field.

The format varies depending on the discipline.

In history, for example, doctoral students may complete written and oral exams in their primary research area. Other disciplines may require a portfolio, a research paper, or an oral defense. Students often prepare for and take these exams over the course of a semester or year.

After passing these exams, you complete a dissertation prospectus or proposal. In this prospectus, you propose a dissertation topic, research questions, and a bibliography. You also put together a faculty dissertation committee to evaluate the prospectus.

Once the committee approves the prospectus, you advance into the candidacy phase.

Step 4: Write a Dissertation

Earning a Ph.D. generally requires you to complete a dissertation (in some cases, you may complete a practicum in lieu of one). These documents are typically 150-300 pages in length, depending on the field. Math dissertations can run as little as 50 pages.

A dissertation is an original contribution to knowledge in one's field, a demonstration of a student's ability to conduct university-level research and produce scholarship.

Before writing the dissertation, you conduct research in your field. This may include doing archival research, compiling databases, and conducting surveys, depending on the discipline. You then write multiple chapters, which you submit to your doctoral advisor for feedback.

You must then defend your dissertation before your dissertation committee and, in many cases, the defense is open to the university community. After a successful defense, you can formally apply for your doctorate.

Step 5: Enter the Job Market

It's common for doctoral candidates to enter the academic job market while completing their dissertation.

Colleges and universities typically post job openings in the fall. For tenure-track positions, applicants submit materials such as a cover letter, curriculum vitae (CV), and letters of recommendation.

Some applications also require a dissertation chapter or writing sample, a statement of teaching philosophy, syllabi of courses for which students served as teaching assistants during graduate school, and proposals for future research projects.

Most hiring committees conduct initial interviews, either remotely or at major academic conferences. They then bring top candidates to campus for an extended interview. The campus visit often includes a public lecture and meetings with faculty, administrators, and students.

Departments vote on the job candidates before extending an offer. The selected candidate can then negotiate their salary, research budget, course releases, and other benefits.

Although the projected employment growth rate for professors is 8% between 2022 and 2032, the number of faculty openings will vary considerably by field.

Demand for faculty in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, health sciences, and business continues to outpace demand for faculty in education, social sciences, and humanities. The supply and demand curve also dictates salary levels, which can vary widely.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't pursue a Ph.D. in a discipline for which academic jobs are relatively scarce.

In many fields, employment opportunities exist outside the university. Plenty of graduates with Ph.D.s find satisfying work in corporations, research centers, think tanks, museums, federal agencies, and nongovernmental organizations, to name a few options.

Frequently Asked Questions About Becoming a Professor

Note: The insights on this page — excluding school descriptions — were reviewed by an independent third party compensated for their time by BestColleges. Page last reviewed April 2, 2024.