Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$80,250

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$63,510 – $101,090

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

77,960

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

+17.1%

Growing at twice the all-jobs rate or more (7%+)

Openings a year (projected)

8,500

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

Demonstrate and teach patient care in classroom and clinical units to nursing students. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

Main tasks

• Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory and clinic work, assignments, and papers.
• Supervise students' laboratory and clinical work.
• Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
• Assess clinical education needs and patient and client teaching needs using a variety of methods.
• Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
• Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as pharmacology, mental health nursing, and community health care practices.
• Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
• Demonstrate patient care in clinical units of hospitals.

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

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

Doctoral or professional degree

Work experience in a related job: less than 5 years

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).

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 23 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.

Related careers

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

• Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary

  $107,310 median · +17.9% projected

• Health Education Specialists

  $64,070 median · +5.6% projected

• Registered Nurses

  $97,550 median · +5.6% projected

• Nurse Practitioners

  $132,300 median · +41% projected

• Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

  $64,400 median · +3% projected

• Nurse Midwives

  $134,040 median · +11.5% projected