CCollegeMatcher

Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary

US occupation · SOC 25-1021

Job titles people report: Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Computer Information Systems Instructor (CIS Instructor), Computer Science Instructor, Computer Science Professor, Faculty Member, Information Technology Instructor (IT Instructor), Instructor, Lecturer, Professor

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025
$96,980
Half earn more, half earn less
Middle half earn
$66,600 – $131,320
25th to 75th percentile
People employed, May 2025
35,480
Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
Projected change, 2025–35
+4.9%
At or above the all-jobs rate (3.5% to under 7%)
Openings a year (projected)
3,200
New jobs plus replacing people who leave
Typical education to enter
Doctoral or professional degree
BLS
  • All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
  • Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
  • Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Teach courses in computer science. May specialize in a field of computer science, such as the design and function of computers or operations and research analysis. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

Main tasks

  • Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
  • Compile, administer, and grade examinations or assign this work to others.
  • Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as programming, data structures, and software design.
  • Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory work, assignments, and papers.
  • Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
  • Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
  • Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, and course materials and methods of instruction.
  • Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)
Doctoral or professional degree
O*NET Job Zone 5
Extensive preparation
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Interests it suits

The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.

  • Social: helping, teaching and caring for people
  • Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas
  • Conventional: organising information, records and procedures

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 21 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Business

  • Management Information Systems, General
  • Information Resources Management
  • Knowledge Management
  • Management Information Systems and Services, Other

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Business at the Major step.

Where many students take business

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Computer Science

  • Computer and Information Sciences, General
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computer and Information Sciences, Other
  • Computer Programming/Programmer, General
  • Information Science/Studies
  • Computer Systems Analysis/Analyst
  • Computer Science
  • Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation
2 more programmes
  • Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications
  • Cloud Computing

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Computer Science at the Major step.

Where many students take computer science

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Education

  • Computer Teacher Education

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Education at the Major step.

Where many students take education

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Other fields

Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.

Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies

  • Mathematics and Computer Science
  • Accounting and Computer Science
  • Computational Science
  • Human Computer Interaction
  • Economics and Computer Science
  • Linguistics and Computer Science

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

← All careers

Sources

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0

Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk