[Anonymous]

Maybe not the best forum for this question but…

I have always wanted to become an Accounting Professor, but with only a B.S. and a CPA combined with the fact that I provide the only source of income for my house (financially support wife and daughter) is it even possible right now? I think it is getting harder and harder to teach with only a masters degree due to accrediting bodies requiring a PhD.

I know I can get a masters while working, but has anyone ever heard of someone getting a PhD while in Public?

[ohiostategirlcpa]

Try a DBA (Doctor in Business Administration), it is faster, and there are schools offering part time programs.
I am not an expert but for most colleges it is considered an equivalent to the PhD.
Also, with a masters you can teach at junior colleges.

F91 A95 R90 B94
CMA since 2015
(Gleim books/PDFs, MCQs, SIMS)

[Missy]

I'd recommend trying to teach a class at a community college level first. I always thought I wanted to be a professor. Taught one class one semester and will NEVER do it again. I actually got fired just after midterms because ONE student complained I gave him a D. (Yes, i have that in writing from the Dean).

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[ohiostategirlcpa]

Good point from mla, try teaching first, before committing to it.

F91 A95 R90 B94
CMA since 2015
(Gleim books/PDFs, MCQs, SIMS)

[Anonymous]

Master's is the minimum to teach usually, but you can teach at 4-year institutions, too, with the Master's, just probably only teach 100 and 200 level courses (so, Intro to Financial Accounting or something like that). It's rare that someone with a Master's would teach a 300 or 400 level course, but not entirely unheard of. I've heard rumors that you can teach with a Bachelor's and CPA if you just take 1 or 2 Master's courses, but I haven't heard that from any official sources, so don't know if it's reliable or not.

I'd like to try my hand at teaching college, and since I work at a college, there's a good chance I could try it at some point. I keep thinking I need to go sit down with the Academic Dean and say “Hey, what would it take for me to be able to teach someday?” He could confirm for me if I could teach with just a couple Master's classes or if I'd need a full Master's, and then what all I could teach with just the Master's. One career trajectory I've considered is switching to teaching in 15-20 years for an easier last few years before retirement.

To be a full professor, yes, a Doctorate (whether DBA or PhD) would be needed. PhD is still definitely the recognized thing in the academic world, and academics is a fairly traditional place. however, I think the DBAs are probably gaining in popularity, so may be more widely accepted by the time you'd have it. Part of me would like to be Dr. Lilla someday, simply to say I'd done it, but I don't think I could handle the research to be a PhD, so if I ever get a terminal degree it would probably be a DBA.

FYI – if you're not already aware – professors usually aren't paid much, so I would expect anyone leaving public accounting or leaving a managerial role in private accounting to take a job as a professor would be taking a pay cut. However, they'd also be taking a 9-months-a-year job…so, it just might be worth it. 🙂

[Skynet]

Ok, this is my personal opinion.

I would never go into teaching as a professor. It's too much of a hassle. The amount of work has to go into it through in getting a teaching credentials, then class preparations, inclass teaching, and grading. You can't forget about the classroom politics that goes along with it.

I would rather become a personal tutor instead. The pay may not be that great, but tutoring a handful of students can make you some decent money without all the hassle. Plus you would still have your freedom.

My 2 cents.

[SaveBandit]

This is something I've considered as well; however, if you want to pull in real money, you'll likely need your PHD. I recently looked up the salary of the worst teacher I've ever had (intermediate 1) and he made $240k last year. Looked up another marginal teacher (Cost acctg) and she made $287k. The only thing they did is show up to class and hold office hours. The GAs did all the grading. I went to the largest public university in the state. I imagine all the other “flagship” state schools show similar wages.

One of my grad professors just finished up his PhD while working – he did some kind of online thing part time – and he had 25+ schools interested in him purely because nobody is getting their PhD anymore and universities are short-handed on staff. He said his offers coming out of the program were in the 150k range. Most of these offers were from smaller public universities or private institutions.

I would try to teach adjunct or something first. I know in my area Strayer Univ is always looking for finance/accounting adjuncts. Maybe there is a similar institution in your neck of the woods.

4 for 4

FAR 85
AUD 94
BEC 86
REG 90

[Anonymous]

@SaveBandit Those salaries are definitely not the norm. This site is relatively reliable, though slightly higher than what I have seen in practice: https://www.higheredjobs.com/salary/salaryDisplay.cfm?SurveyID=32 It lists average salary for a professor, across all school sizes, as ranging from $67k-$100k depending on the professorship level. Professorship levels are a complicated matter, but they're attained not only based on educational level but also based on time spent teaching, seniority in the institution, etc. So, if you switch from the business world to academia at – say – the age of 45, you're not going to be likely to become a full professor immediately even if you have a PhD.

According to that site, business fields are slightly higher than average, with the averages for the various professor levels being $103k-$126k.

So, you can earn a very respectable wage as a professor, and some professor – like the ones whose salaries you researched – can even earn very good wages. However, the majority do not earn such good wages, and in order for the average full professor in business to be $126k, then each $287k professor that you know has to be averaged out by some $60k professors or something like that.

Here's another data source to consider that I saw recently – KY's state college's professor wages: https://cpe.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/265B5BF2-10B0-4CCA-9CDC-18BFDE7F5B9B/0/facsal2008Web.pdf I'm sure other states publish similar data, so could be very informative to Google for something similar for your state. Keep in mind that private institutions will be on a different payscale than public (either higher or lower depending on the institution).

[Vanessachy]

Some of my accounting professors who have master degrees are lectures (I went to a state university), you can be a lecturer. They don't do research, they just teach. It is a full time position and they still get all the breaks, their pay is comparative as well.

Far 10/26/2015, 64, 1/4/2016, 82
Reg 7/10/2015, 60, 2/27/2016, 86
Aud, 5/9/2016, 74 (ouch), 7/26/2016, I cannot wait to take this test again
Bec, 6/10/2016, 70,9/8 retake

[excobar]

Most professors make good money, i think it all depends on the school you teach, the subject you teach, how long you have been in the school and your years of teaching and research experience. The least earning professor in my Business college earns over 150k, In fact, a professor said it himself that they make a lot and don't work much. The syllables are already set and he has been using it for over 3 years. This professor earns over 300k annually.

He did mention that professors in departments like linguistic, history or social works earn much less but over 80k. The professor did mention that he started with 120k fresh out from doctorate program. His salary kept going up annually and now he is a tenure and he has been in the school for around 7 years.

Financially, professors make good money, the stress of the job is less. If you compare what they earn and the job stress, its much better than an average accountant. It takes alot of hard work and years of experience as an accountant to even earn up to 200k. The starting salary for an accounting professor in my school is over 150k.

I was a GA and i do most work for the professors, from recording grades to sending out emails to the students. All the professors does is to go to class and teach. Although few professors do those works themselves.

Overall, you should do what makes you happy. Financially the professors make good money and as your experience increases the job stress decreases.

[mystical guy]

@excobar hit the nail on the head. Professors in Accounting make way more than they should be making, compared to people like me who bust their behind just to get a fraction of their pay (even as a proven entity).

What one of my professors did to get his doctorate, he applied for a loan and stopped working. Of course, after the 2 years of hard work, he now makes six figures and doesn't break a sweat. He bragged about his big house, 120 inch TV special ordered from a computer company, etc.

If you can make the wife see the $$$, she won't mind you taking a break to get your credentials, and taking out the loan.
Even better, if you can get a stipend/grant and a GA job…. the world will be yours.

CPA - Since 2015
CISA - Smashed 2012
CIA - Passed 2015

[Author]

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