Careers in Education that Are Fulfilling and Offer Great Pay

The world of education certainly doesn’t lack when it comes to fulfilling work, and being able to see a student build knowledge and use it to better their own lives is a perk of the job rivaled by few other professions. However, the fulfillment is often leaned on because a lot of educational positions, especially in the public sector, do not come with a paycheck nearly as large as most people believe is deserved.

If someone is willing to put in some extra hours furthering their own education, a few more opportunities arise, and as with most industries, time on the job can lead to opportunities that offer a little more in the way of filling up a bank account.

Here are 4 careers in the education sector that offer both the fulfillment of educating and the pay to treat yourself from time to time. 

Special Education Teachers

Though the median pay for a special education teacher isn’t much higher (if at all) than that of their mainstream curriculum counterparts, there are a lot of out-of-school opportunities for educators with polished skill sets involving helping those who have trouble learning. Private tutors, especially at the collegiate level, can make more than $100 per hour, and with online services like Zoom, these tutors can even offer their services to multiple students at once. 

College Professors

This is another one that you don’t generally need a lot of on-the-job experience to get, as college professors normally just need an advanced degree in the field in which they are teaching. The median pay for a college professor is about $80,000 per year in the United States, which is quite a bit higher than that of a public school teacher. Professors also get a lot of opportunities to travel and tend to have a lot of time off as well. 

Chief Academic Officer

Generally, these individuals need to have a doctorate and quite a few years as a professor, and for good reasons. Chief Academic Officers are responsible for planning and creating classes to fit given degree paths. Sometimes called education directors, these individuals take a deep dive into the success of a given set of classes and help to ensure that a given curriculum is modern and best serving those students who are taking the classes. Interacting with students is still part of the job, and boosting student engagement begins with a core curriculum. Almost all of these education directors make six figures. 

Diversity Coordinator

If you’re someone who is passionate about human equity and ensuring everyone has an equal opportunity at success, becoming a diversity coordinator at a college or university could prove to be very rewarding, and amidst a social push for more equity, these jobs tend to pay pretty well, too!

Diversity coordinators may work strictly with admissions, but many also branch out and involve themselves with campus happenings to promote a culture of inclusion. For some schools, this may focus on inclusion for women in things like sports, or a focus on racial and class diversity on campus. 

Don’t Overlook Remote Education

In addition to these fields, an ever-evolving digital classroom exists with many opportunities, as well, some of them very lucrative. You do lose the face-to-face interactions with students when moving to the telelearning medium, but you gain the ability to teach students from all over the world. The jobs listed above all exist in the remote education sector, and if you’re someone who doesn’t mind keeping up to speed with technological advances, remote education is proving to be a lucrative means of teaching, especially after the pandemic allowed so many to realize its potential.