5 High-Paying Careers in the Education Field

Image of a teacher for our article on 5 High-Paying Careers in the Education Field

Today’s Highest-Paying Careers in Education: 5 Great Options

  • Superintendent
  • Principal
  • Chief Academic Officer
  • Professor
  • Specialty Teacher
If you’re interested in high-paying jobs in education, there are many, great options to choose from. However, there are several jobs in particular in this field that usually command even higher pay than most of the rest. The following, five careers in education represent some of the highest-paid options available right now.

1. Superintendent

In all public school systems, there is a managerial hierarchy that climbs, at the local/city/county level, up to the position of the school district superintendent. This educational leader oversees  all educational happenings in their designated public school district area. In most cases, these professionals also work closely alongside many other types of administrators in their efforts to manage their districts daily.

2. Principal

School principals are essentially the leaders of all personnel at their designated schools. These professionals also help to oversee their respective schools’:
  • budget matters
  • supply stocks
  • emergency plans
  • educational approaches, and more
Also, principals are beholden to a greater duty to  the community and school district. They answer to and often work in tandem with the school superintendent.

3. Chief Academic Officer

A chief academic officer (CAO)  is an important educational worker. The CAO who earns a substantial income by helping other school system administrators:
  • plan teaching approaches
  • create new academic programming
  • design new courses, and more
One important goal is to create and maintain educational approaches that offer the most benefit to the student. Another primary goal here is to stay abreast of all legal and ethical rules and concerns that may affect the CAO’s schools or school systems.

4. Professor

Postsecondary teachers are commonly referred to as “professors.” They are another well-paid professional in the greater educational field. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, these pros earn a very respectable median pay of about $78,470 per year. There are also other rewards  such as having a daily, positive, shaping effect on students who ultimately represent the future.

5. Specialty Teacher

Finally, specialty teachers are one more very well-paid group in the education field today. “Specialty teacher” typically refers to a teacher of a non-traditional, non-core class such as:
  • special education
  • music
  • art
  • advanced/gifted studies
The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows us that specialty teachers such as special education teachers make a median wage of about $59,780 per year. Related Resource: Top 10 Highest Paying Master’s Degrees The education field is an incredibly large one. It employs hundreds of thousands of workers across the US. For those looking to work in this field and make some of the best pay possible, there are several opportunities here. These five, above-mentioned careers in the education field offer some of the best pay found in the industry today.

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Brenda Rufener
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