Is it worth it to become a college professor?

Hey Abbie - Being a college professor can look very different depending on what setting you teach in... there are community colleges, mid-size regional universities, private college, public colleges, vocational schools that are "post-secondary", etc. And the types of students can vary widely from place to place. I teach at a college where the average age student is about 39 years old. So I teach adults - not "kids". Most of our students are adult students who attended college at age 18-21 - but then dropped out due to finances, family, jobs, etc. and are now back trying to finish their degrees. And then there are also universities that are more traditional - where the average age student is more like 25. If you want to focus on teaching research - or Doing research - either way, teaching will be involved. And these days there are many more applicants for professor positions than there are positions. It's quite competitive. And many professors don't live anywhere near the colleges where they teach. So the idea of living in that "idyllic" college atmosphere isn't the case for most college professors. As far as being "worth it" - it depends on what you mean by that. If you're looking to make a lot of money - education - including higher education won't do it for you for the most part. University professors who make the most money are probably doctors who teach at medical schools or top scientist that bring in lots of money for their universities... because if you want to do research, you have to bring in the funds that allow you to do that. Getting grants and raising money to do research is part of a researcher's job at most colleges. There's lots of administrative paper work - no matter where you go. The AVERAGE salary for an associate professor at a doctorate granting university is about $73,000. The average salary for a full professor at a major research university is about $115,000. But those are just averages... and there are plenty of professors making less than that....And yes, there are some making more than that. There's a publication called the Chronicle of Higher Education. It's a daily newspaper with news, stories about colleges and a large employment section . You may want to take a look at that. I also recommend you talk to as many teachers/college professors as you can... because the job can be very different depending on where you work. Best of luck.

Many colleges provide incredible teaching programs. A few of the best in the nation are Johns Hopkins University, NYU, and UConn

Teaching involves a number of different skills and qualities. I would say the most important are:

1. People skills - being friendly and working well with others. You will need to be personable, caring, kind, friendly, compassionate, and understanding. These qualities make a great teacher. But you also need to be stern and firm in your directions, rules, and discipline
2. Public speaking - every day in your class you will need to be able to speak and present information to your students, practice speech, and practice fluency of language and talking in front of others
3. The subject you plan to teach - become a master of the subject you plan to teach, make sure you know as much as possible and learn as much as you can about the subject you plan to teach. Take as many classes as possible in this subject and learn everything you can about it.
4. Psychology & Human Development - start reading books and research articles on human development and psych. It will be helpful for you to know how people learn at different stages and the best ways to teach them at these stages (depending on stage of development and schema).

One who have lots of patience and research mindset is the right person to choose College professor as there career because it is new learning for them everyday throughout there career.