Teaching at a university or college is a very rewarding career path; however, sacrifice and hard work are needed if you really want to follow and pursue this path. Don’t worry; your hard work and sacrifices will be rewarded with more than a handful of benefits. So, here are the steps on how to become a professor.

Step 1: Get the Proper Education

Make sure you have completed your compulsory education. In the U.S., the compulsory education consists of 12^th grade, high school diploma of its General equivalency Diploma. Enroll at a 2-year or 4-year university or college. If you decide to go to a community college, junior college, or to any 2-year school, make sure that the degree you take is intended for transfer to a 4-year university or college. Some degrees at a 2-year institution are not qualified for transfer, but to prepare the student for his chosen job market immediately.

Step 2: Choose a major

This does not necessarily have to be the discipline or subject you choose to teach in the future; however, this should be something you are really interested in. Complete your Bachelor’s degree with a particular major and degree program. Try to get really good grades. 3.5 or even higher GPA is necessary to really be ready for action for the next step on becoming a professor.

Step 3: Enroll in a Continuing Education Program

Go to a graduate school and get a post-graduate degree. This is really the time where you have to choose your specialization. When you choose a graduate school for your post-graduate study, study the program carefully. Make sure it has high enrollment because for sure, these programs have a good reputation for a certain reason.

Step 4: Assess Your Goals and Interest

Decide if you want to venture into a more teaching-oriented or research-oriented career.If you want to pursue teaching in a 2-year college, you need to have a master’s degree or even a Ph.D. in the discipline that you want to teach. If teaching in a university is more preferable for you, then a terminal or doctorate degree in that discipline is a must.

Step 5: Decide if you want to work full-time or part-time

Most universities and colleges allow their professors to work full-time and to earn tenure. This provides the professors with some benefits such as termination protection without a cause or due process.

Step 6: Earn your Tenure

While earning tenure is a great benefit, you have to keep in mind that it comes with a big responsibility. He an honest and a good scholar but do not ever abuse it not hide behind it. In engineering and science, assistant professors are usually given funds for building a lab, buying specialized supplies and equipment, and getting their projects started. This is normally considered as an investment so make sure you do well on this.

There you go - the simple steps on how to become a professor. Just remember one thing - remain humble and never ever succumb to the “professor’s disease”. Just because you are in front of students who technically have fewer experiences than you don’t mean that you are already have an exalted place in this universe.