One growth area in this slow economy is education. The need for teachers is increasing and working professionals are moving from their jobs in slower industries to return to college for teaching credentials.

If you have a bachelor’s degree, you can gain teaching credentials and/or a Master of Education degree both on-campus and online. While most adult students are gaining credentials in elementary education or secondary education, you can also get credentials in Early Childhood Education, Reading Specialist, Special Education or ESL.

Many schools offer cohort groups for teacher education in an accelerated format over 18 months to 2 years, part-time. This allows workers to keep their jobs and still take classes in the evening until they start student teaching.

The online Teacher Education programs are offered by state universities, private college or for-profit schools. Rio Salado College, a community college in Phoenix, offers teaching credentials online at a less expensive option than most other online schools. Rio Salado will work with your local college to arrange student teaching and partners with several universities to offer the Master of Education by adding a few extra courses.

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