What Can I Teach With My Degree?

The road to teaching comes with many questions.

Do I have what it takes to become a teacher?

Do I have time to get my teaching certificate?

What can I teach with my degree?

The answer looks different for everyone, but one fact is true: becoming a teacher is simpler than it appears. Paths have opened over the years to make a teaching career more accessible, especially in New Jersey, which is regularly ranked at the top in the nation for education.

No matter where someone is in their teaching journey, determining which subject to teach is a big decision. Luckily, individuals pursuing certification with an existing four-year degree can leverage that degree to focus on subject areas they already know well.

Rutgers Alternate Route partner, the Teacher Apprenticeship Network (TAN), has been a resource for answers to the above questions. A registered apprenticeship sponsor, TAN works with aspiring teachers to reach their goal of getting certified. Part of this work includes reviewing candidate transcripts and providing guidance based on an applicant’s academic background.

TAN is just one resource among many for future educators. Another great resource? Educators who have asked themselves these same questions.

We pulled from our own Rutgers Alternate Route candidates’ experiences, as well as visited Reddit to see what other teachers are saying about selecting their subject. 

How these teachers decided on their subjects

Someone’s past doesn’t always determine their future. Many teachers are happily exploring subjects that are separate from their degree areas. See how these educators found the right subjects. 

Elementary education

Prior to working as a teacher, I worked for 10 years at the Brooklyn Criminal Court, where I noticed that it was the same people and, at times, family who were constantly getting arrested. I then thought to myself that I wanted to make a change in the world. The way that I thought I could accomplish this was by becoming a teacher. As a teacher, I would be able to reach them while they were still young. I would be able to teach students not only math, science, ELA and social studies but I could also teach them life skills and how to be able to succeed in life and stay out of jail.

Karen Freire, Rutgers Alternate Route alumna and accounting and finance major

I teach elementary school with a multiple-subject teaching credential in California, with a Bachelor of Science in Criminology. I actually was paid more my first year teaching because my bachelor's required more units than the education/liberal studies degree that many teachers get, because it put me further along on the pay scale.

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I was a Public Administration major in college. Prior to becoming a teacher, I worked as a track and field coach. I'm now teaching Kindergarten in Newark Public Schools. I made the switch to teaching because I believe that diverse learners should have diverse teachers.

Chelsea Washington, Rutgers Alternate Route Alumna

English language arts

I actually taught English and had a degree in history. I took the English content exam and they looked at my transcript and saw I had taken a lot of Lit courses in college.

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ESL

Although my bachelor's degree is in Legal Studies and I was a paralegal for fifteen years, life led me to teaching and I could not be happier! My experiences as not only a bilingual American citizen but also an immigration paralegal illuminated for me the fact that this population of children needs an advocate who understands and empathizes with their plight. This is why I made the decision to transition my career from law to education. I was a volunteer literacy tutor, and I am currently teaching ESL in middle and high school.  

Mercedes Allen, Rutgers Alternate Route alumna

History and social studies

If you do pursue a history endorsement, think about getting additional endorsements to be more competitive for jobs. Even with the worsening teacher shortage, it can still be difficult to find open history/social studies positions. Science teachers are more in demand.

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Health and Physical Education

I’ve always been a passionate person for soccer and health science, and for that reason, I decided to start looking into careers that focused on health. It took me a while just to get my associate's degree because I always had to work full time and study part time. During that time, I got a job as a custodian in the local public school district and then started working as a substitute teacher there. At the beginning, it was tough because I was working only as a substitute and the money wasn’t enough. Thankfully, I was able to find a part-time job as a soccer coach for a soccer academy. That experience was the start of my passion for teaching because I enjoyed it as much as if I were actually playing professionally, and the connection with the kids was amazing.

German Cardona, Rutgers Alternate Route alumnus

STEM

Going into college, I knew getting my degree in science was a no-brainer and so I attended the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers. I received my B.S. in Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources and I never looked back. I had an amazing educational journey, learned so much, and became an expert in my field. I knew that above all else, I wanted to share my love and passion for science with young minds.  I decided to go into the teaching profession because of my belief that all students deserve a chance and when students are supported and guided by teachers who care, the sky is the limit.

Lexie Navarro, Rutgers Alternate Route alumna

I was a Business Administration Major at Clark-Atlanta University. Prior to becoming a teacher, I worked in the music industry with Akon's Convict Music. I am now teaching 4th Grade Math at Burch Charter School of Excellence. I made the switch to teaching because I felt like it was my passion. It was something I wanted to do since I was younger, and I wanted the students to see that someone like them who came from the same area where they grew up can show them that there are success stories out there and we need to keep adding to them.

Kamal Rozier, Rutgers Alternate Route Alumnus

World languages

In addition to my love for Spanish, I also discovered my love for teaching during college when I joined Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society. As a Sigma Delta Pi member, I was given the opportunity to help various students with their Spanish classes. I served as a one-on-one tutor for undergraduates taking Spanish and a classroom to tutor larger groups. Those experiences led to my selection as one of Sigma Delta Pi’s estudiantes instructores project, which gave me the opportunity to teach two lessons of Fundamentals of Spanish, a 200-level college course.

Nataly Baltazar, Rutgers Alternate Route alumna

General advice

Choosing the right content area for you is important, especially at the high school level, but I think first, you really need to figure out what age you’re looking to teach.

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Make sure you want to teach. That means not just liking the content, but liking teaching the content. It also means liking kids. If you don’t like kids, it’s not a good idea to teach. Make sure you like kids at the age level you want to teach. Also, make sure you are willing to work with students with disabilities, students from different backgrounds, and students with severe trauma. Your class may not be the most important thing in those kids' lives, and for them, you want to just show you care. I’m a SPED teacher who works with students with significant disabilities and I absolutely love it, but if I didn’t like children or didn’t like working with kids with disabilities, I would hate it. And I also live in a state where I make enough to live, which is another consideration.

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Teaching at any level is about a LOT more than just material, so you should make sure you're prepared for all facets of the job.

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I taught my degree and hated it. So I switched over to a different subject. Teachers are desperately needed right now and public schools in my state require a bachelor’s in anything and alternative certification. The program I used was easy and I didn’t have to pay anything until I was hired and it was taken from my first year’s pay. I didn’t even notice it because I was making more than I did in my old career.

r/askteachers

Once you've got the bachelor’s degree, you check into alternative routes to certification programs.

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If you’re considering following your dream of teaching, Rutgers Alternate Route can offer you the support and training you need to succeed. Be sure to follow Rutgers Alternate Route on Twitter and sign up for Alternate Route’s monthly newsletter for more information and stories from the field of education.