Best Online Secondary Education Degrees

Secondary educators help adolescents prepare for a career, college, trade school, relationships, and social experiences. These professionals help cultivate students’ interests, inspire them to think big, and challenge them to broaden their views of the world.

Becoming a high school teacher starts with earning a bachelor’s degree in secondary education. This four-year academic program partially fulfills the requirements for state licensure as a teacher in all 50 states.

Once you become a teacher, you can pursue a master’s or doctoral degree if you aspire to serve as a principal, instructional coordinator, educational technologist, or an instructor of pre-service teachers.

Use this guide to learn more about earning your online secondary education degree, how to become a teacher, and what this field could mean for your future.

Teachers prepare the leaders of tomorrow, making this career a potentially fulfilling and interesting job. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), teachers pull in a median annual salary near average for American workers, but teaching has not always been a widely respected field.

Only in the mid-1800s did education in the U.S. become compulsory, free, and professionalized. Soon, schools began educating aspiring teachers. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 1.9 million secondary teachers now work in the U.S. Most of these educators serve in traditional public schools or public charter schools, but some teachers work in private schools or instruct online learners.

Today, public school teachers in all 50 states must hold state licensure, which includes a qualifying bachelor’s degree. The benefits of earning a bachelor’s degree in secondary education include:

A secondary education program helps graduates meet their state’s requirements for teacher licensure at the high school level. This four-year program typically requires 120 undergraduate credits, including courses in education and the subject matter graduates hope to teach. Learners also complete a student teaching experience.

Most colleges require you to pursue a concentration in a content area, usually math, science, social studies, or language arts. However, at some schools, you may pursue a specialization in something like world languages, agriculture, government, or skilled and technical sciences.

Expect to spend about $13,000 a year on tuition to earn an education degree. Although this number can be helpful, you may be able to earn your degree for much less by attending a public school in your state, applying for scholarships, or enrolling in the TEACH grant program.

Each college or university sets its own admission requirements, so specifics vary between schools. However, most bachelor’s degrees in education require the following components for admission:

If you still need to meet your prospective school’s minimum requirements for admission, you can ask about taking a bridge program or pursuing an associate degree.

A bachelor’s degree in secondary education typically requires coursework in instructional methodologies, analytical methods, classroom management, social-emotional learning, and educational technology and philosophy. You also take courses in your instructional field, usually, science, math, social studies, or language arts.

Common education courses may include the following:

A typical bachelor’s degree in secondary education requires 120 credits, which includes a general core, a series of education courses, electives, and a concentration or minor. Secondary education degrees generally call for you to minor or concentrate in the field you intend to teach, such as math, science, or language arts.

You also need to complete a student teaching experience, which is an unpaid classroom teaching experience under the direction of a licensed and experienced teacher. Student teaching generally requires 12-14 weeks of supervised teaching practice during your senior year and offers six credits toward your degree.

The NCES Data Lab reports that a bachelor’s degree in education generally costs $13,109 in annual tuition. This average can vary widely between schools; in-state public schools often cost the least, and high-profile private schools often charge the most.

Most students do not pay for their education entirely out of pocket. Scholarships, grants, work-study programs, savings, and student loans can all help you meet expenses.

A bachelor’s degree in secondary education can prepare you for a school-based career as a classroom teacher. However, depending on your background and other education, you may decide to teach in a nontraditional setting such as a community college, correctional institution, or an education program for lifelong learners or working professionals.

Earning an associate degree in secondary education at a community college can help you save money on the way to your four-year program. If you already hold a bachelor’s degree, you may want to consider a master’s degree that qualifies you for state licensure. If you are a current teacher who aspires to leadership or postsecondary education, a doctorate may be right for you.

An associate degree in secondary education provides the first two years of a four-year bachelor’s degree. This program offers foundational instruction in educational philosophy, classroom management, and general education.

An associate degree does not qualify you for teacher licensure, but may prepare you to be a teaching assistant, which earns an average annual salary of $27,864, according to Payscale in January 2024.

A master’s degree in secondary education requires 1-2 years of study. This degree can equip you with skills in pedagogy, classroom management, and instructional design; or it can position you for initial teacher licensure. In March 2024, Payscale found that people with an M.Ed. earned an average of $66,000 per year.

An Ed.D. or Ph.D. takes 3-5 years to complete, and you can gain skills in instruction, program evaluation, and research. After graduation, you may pursue a career as a principal, superintendent, policy analyst, or postsecondary teacher. In January 2024, Payscale found that people with an Ed.D. in education earned an average of $88,000 annually.

When deciding on a secondary education program, consider cost and accessibility, but don’t stop there. Also look at other factors like the ones below:

In some states, a secondary education degree helps you meet state licensure requirements to teach grades 6-12 or ages 12-18. In other states, you may only qualify for licensure in grades 9-12 with this degree. A master’s or doctoral degree in the field may also equip you to teach adults at the community college or university level.

To become licensed as a teacher, you need a bachelor’s degree, which takes about four years. However, transfer credits, CLEP tests, AP credits, and credits for life experience can all help you finish faster. If you already hold a bachelor’s degree in a field other than teaching, you need a post-bachelor’s certificate or a master’s degree to teach. These programs generally take 18-24 months to complete.

A bachelor’s degree in secondary education generally prepares you to be a high school teacher, a career with a median annual salary of $62,360, according to the BLS in 2022. It can also qualify you to pursue a master’s degree or doctorate in education, leading to a higher paying career as an instructional coordinator, which pays a median of $66,490, or school principal with a median of $101,320.

You need a four-year degree or higher to be a state-licensed teacher. Private school certification organizations like the Association of Christian Schools International also require the same educational qualifications.

While some teachers with non-education degrees receive licensure through a non-traditional pathway, most educators hold a bachelor’s or master’s degree with a major or minor in education and extensive coursework in their subject.

Many professional organizations can help advance your career as a teacher, including the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. Secondary teachers can also join associations relevant to their subject, such as the National Council for the Social Studies or the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.