There are two pathways to becoming an educator after graduating with a degree in Liberal Arts at Mercer. One involves state certification, and the other does not.
Without State Certification: Pursuing higher education in the discipline of your choice enables you to teach without certification at some private and parochial K-12 schools; job security is more fragile, and the salary is often lower than that of public school teachers.
To teach at the college and university level, state certification is not required because that focuses on K-12 education. However, aspiring professors should seek opportunities for professional development to improve their confidence and ability in the classroom through education-specific seminars, webinars, lectures, and conferences. Many graduate students help finance their education through work as a teaching assistant or part-time lecturer, which offers insight, experience, and mentorship by experienced faculty. A Master’s degree in a Liberal Arts discipline such as Anthropology, History, Sociology, Psychology, or English is required to teach at the community college level. However, unless one is in a highly specialized discipline, or a field for which a Master’s is the terminal degree, an applicant will be competing against other applicants with Ph.D.’s. Combining a Masters of Fine Arts with a resume of publication, performance, and presentation gives an applicant a stronger chance to become a full-time entry-level instructor with opportunity for future promotion.
For 4-year college and university teaching, a Ph.D. in a Liberal Arts field is required in most states due to the added experience in research and writing on a specialized topic that a Ph.D. requires; this specialized knowledge and research experience can benefit the institution, the individual, and students.
With State Certification: To teach in a Liberal Arts discipline at a public school, move from a Liberal Arts A.A. to a Bachelor’s degree program in which you can work toward certification while gaining your subject area degree. This option is offered at most New Jersey universities; at Rutgers, students can qualify for a program to gain a Master’s degree in Education in just 3 more years after graduating from Mercer.
William Paterson University at Mercer offers state Early Education (K-3 or 3-6) certification alongside a BA in Liberal Studies, in which students choose to focus on two tracks (English, History, Political Science, Psychology, or Sociology). They can also attain a BA in Psychology while gaining state teaching certification.