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Education is a broad subject that revolves around a single fundamental idea: passing the knowledge, proficiencies and core values of a culture from one generation to the next. The ultimate goal of education is nothing less than to provide individuals with the tools necessary for them to attain their full potential, while simultaneously preserving and enriching society and civilization in the process.

The term "education" covers a wide territory: from teaching to learning to administration; from pre-school through doctoral degrees in formal schooling environments; from vocational training to special education for challenged students to continuing education for adults. The education industry offers opportunities for both training and careers in all these areas and many more, and caters to millions of students of all ages, interests and levels of development.

Education Degrees
The wide range of careers and training opportunities in education necessarily implies a wide range of available degrees, and a spectrum of degrees necessary to qualify for the hierarchy of available positions. As a service industry, the field of education boasts one of the most highly educated populations of any field. Merely to qualify as a teacher at the K-12 grade level, for example, requires at least a bachelor's degree, and teachers make up nearly fifty percent of the educational field work force. A full two-thirds of the career opportunities in the field are described as professional positions.

Requirements for various positions within the field also vary from state to state, and many positions, such as most teaching positions, also require additional licensing or certification beyond the degree.

Degree Programs and Careers in Education

The education field encompasses a range of diverse careers, including school administrator, curriculum designer, and many levels of teacher, from pre-school to post-graduate. There are also a variety of ways in which the life-long learning student can pursue a continuing education, including adult education and distance education.

As an occupational category, the education field is second only to the health care industry in the U.S. in terms of the number of people it employs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that approximately 13 million people were employed in education in 2004. Because attendance in school is mandatory in all states for everyone under the age of 16, approximately half of these jobs are found in K-12 grades.

Among the most popular careers in this field are:

Adult Education
Adult education covers a range of teaching and learning from remedial to vocational to continuing education for personal fulfillment. Remedial instructors might specialize in teaching English as a second language or in preparing students to take high school equivalency tests such as the General Educational Development (GED) exam. Beyond attaining essential skills such as these, there are numerous personal enrichment courses and instructors who teach adults interested in learning a new skill, such as dancing, culinary arts or foreign language fluency.

Curriculum Design
In an attempt to improve classroom education, these specialists design courses, develop effective teaching strategies, evaluate school curricula, and train teachers and administrators in instructional techniques.

Distance Education
"Distance education" is a catch-all designation for any kind of educational relationship where the teacher and the student are separated geographically. Distance learning can use instructional delivery systems as simple as correspondence courses through the mail, or can employ such hi-tech means as the Internet, video conferencing, or televised courses.

Early Childhood Education
In this profession, preschool teachers and day care center personnel work and play with children five and younger, stimulating their social and intellectual skills in an effort to prepare them for entering elementary school.

Educational Administration
Educational administrators, often called principals, provide the long term leadership as well as daily management of schools at various levels. They operate as managers, planning budgets and curricula, hiring and evaluating teachers and support personnel, and maintaining close and cordial relationships with the students, parents and the local community.

Educational Technology
Educational technology, as the name implies, concerns the effective use of technology in a classroom or other educational setting, or the effective combining of ideas with equipment, in an effort to improve teaching and enhance the student's mastery of knowledge.

Higher Education Instruction
Teaching in a college, university, or post-secondary institution requires not only a higher level degree than grade or high school teacher, but also a deeper mastery of a specific subject matter. Faculty members write and deliver lectures and exams, tutor and advise students, perform research and publish papers.

K-12 Education
Nearly half the jobs in this field are devoted to teaching. These positions can range from kindergarten to elementary, middle and high school. Each level has its own training programs and requirements in terms of both licensure and psychology. The more advanced the grade, the more deeply subjects are explored, and the more specialized teacher training is required. Elementary teachers are generalists who require knowledge of a wide range of basic subjects; middle and high school teachers most often focus on a specific discipline.

Physical & Health Education
Physical Education courses are mandatory in many states and through many levels of schooling, both public and private. P.E. teachers guide exercise and calisthenics, promote physical fitness, teach and coach sports activities, and help students understand and value the importance of good sportsmanship.

Special Education
Children with disabilities are the students of special education teachers. These children can range from pre-schoolers to high schoolers, with disabilities ranging from mild to severe. Special ed teachers not only modify typical school subjects such as reading and math for the challenged students, but also assist them with socialization.

Teacher Training/Licensure
Virtually all states require teachers to hold a bachelor's degree. Requirements for various positions within the field vary from state to state, but most states require additional licensing, certification or accreditation beyond the degree, which is obtained after study by passing a number of exams. These courses help prepare teaching students to pass these tests.

Financial Outlook for Careers in Education
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in general, wages and salaries in the field of education are "significantly higher than the average," in part because personnel in this field have higher levels of education—a prerequisite for the majority of education jobs.

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics projections, employment opportunities in the educational system during the next decade will range from about average for all industries to excellent in certain specialty positions.

Opportunities for teachers at all levels, for example, range from good to excellent, depending on the grade, subject, and school location. Average annual K-12 teacher salaries during the 2003-04 school year, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, ranged from $41,400 to $45,920. The American Federation of Teachers reports the average salary of public K-12 schoolteachers during the same time period as slightly higher—about $46,500.

In other educational career opportunities during the next few years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the demand for special education teachers is expected to rise; jobs for teacher assistants are expected to hold steady; and those seeking administrator positions are expected to enjoy excellent opportunities. Education administrators employed in K-12 public schools earned an average salary of about $74,000 in 2002.