To become an adjunct professor, you usually need a master's degree in the subject you want to teach. For career and technical courses, such as welding or automotive technology, colleges can hire people with a bachelor's or associate degree and several years of work in the field.
This guide is for K-12 teachers, working professionals and anyone with a graduate degree who wants to teach college courses part-time.
Adjunct professors are part-time faculty paid by the course
Adjunct professors, also called adjunct instructors or part-time faculty, teach college courses, usually on a term-by-term contract. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) notes that adjunct professors "usually spend most of their time teaching."
Part-time faculty make up a large share of college teaching staff.
That count includes research and public service staff as well as instructors. In its Condition of Education 2024 indicator, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) found the number of part-time faculty fell 13% from 2011 to 2022.
Adjunct professor requirements start with a master's degree
Colleges set their own hiring rules, but they must meet their accreditor's standards, and those standards apply to adjuncts as much as to full-time faculty.
The faculty credentials guideline from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), approved in 2006 and updated in 2018, asks that faculty teaching general education courses or associate degree courses designed for transfer hold a doctorate or master's in the discipline, or a master's with "a minimum of 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline." SACSCOC has operated as The Commission on Colleges and Universities since September 1, 2026, and its current instructions to colleges (opens in a new tab) also allow "related work or professional experience, licensure and certifications" to count.
The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), another major accreditor, dropped a fixed credit-hour figure in its September 2025 faculty qualification guidelines (opens in a new tab). For general education and other non-occupational courses, it says the academic-credential route "typically means that an instructor holds a master's degree or higher," and leaves the amount of coursework in the subject to each college. It applies to "full-time, part-time, adjunct" and other instructors alike.
A note for K-12 teachers: classroom experience alone may not qualify you to teach a college subject. The Higher Learning Commission's guidelines state that "previous years of classroom instruction does not alone constitute equivalent experience." What usually counts is a graduate degree or graduate coursework in the subject you'd teach, so check your transcripts before you apply. If you teach high school, dual credit courses are another way in: HLC's qualification guidelines name dual credit instructors explicitly, so the same standards apply.
Career and technical courses can count work experience
For courses that aren't designed to transfer to a bachelor's degree, the standards change. SACSCOC's guideline for those associate degree courses is a bachelor's degree in the discipline, or an associate degree and demonstrated competencies in it.
California's community colleges spell it out. In the state's minimum qualifications (opens in a new tab), many career and technical disciplines require "any bachelor's degree or higher and two years of professional experience, or any associate degree and six years of professional experience." The state lists nearly 150 such disciplines, including welding, automotive technology, fire technology and real estate.
For academic subjects such as English, California requires "a masters' degree in the discipline of the assignment, or a bachelor's degree in the discipline of the assignment and a master's degree in a reasonably related discipline." Districts "can never hire below the minimums," though each can also hire candidates it judges to have equivalent qualifications through a local process.
Individual colleges add their own bars. Austin Community College in Texas, for example, requires "a minimum of 3 years of related work experience" for its workforce programs.
Adjunct pay averages about $4,000 per course
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) also found a median minimum of $3,130 per course among the 556 institutions that reported one. Its figures come from colleges that answer its survey, so check what the colleges near you pay. Many community colleges publish their rates:
| College | Published rate | For a 3-credit course |
|---|---|---|
| Austin Community College (Texas) | $1,435 per lecture equivalent hour with a master's; $1,521 with a Ph.D. (fiscal 2026 new hires) | About $4,305 with a master's |
| Carroll Community College (Maryland) | $993 per credit hour for a new hire with a master's (from August 31, 2026) | About $2,979 |
| Virginia Community College System | $793 to $1,348 per credit hour at the instructor level (2025-26) | About $2,379 to $4,044 |
Sources: Austin Community College adjunct career fair page (April 2026); Carroll Community College Credit Adjunct Faculty Scale (effective August 31, 2026); Virginia Community College System 2025-2026 adjunct salary scale (effective July 1, 2025). Per-course figures are our arithmetic, assuming three credit or lecture hours per course.
Benefits are limited. The AAUP found that only 32.7% of institutions contribute toward retirement for some or all per-course faculty, and 30.6% toward medical premiums. Many colleges also cap adjunct loads. Lone Star College's 2026-27 salary schedule limits adjuncts to nine credit hours a semester, and California law classifies community college part-timers who teach up to 67% of a full-time load as temporary employees, so districts generally keep them under it.
Community colleges often fill adjunct professor jobs from an open pool
At community colleges such as Maricopa in Arizona, Los Rios in California and Austin in Texas, you apply once and join a pool that departments search when they need instructors. Maricopa Community Colleges says applying "puts your information in a searchable 'pool,' to be accessed by hiring managers as needed," and that chairs and program managers can be contacted by email. Austin Community College says applications are reviewed (opens in a new tab) "on a monthly basis around academic schedules," and that the interview "may include a demonstration of teaching capability."
What to have ready:
- A CV or resume that lists the courses you could teach and your graduate credits in each subject
- Transcripts. Many colleges accept unofficial copies to apply; Austin Community College requires official ones.
- A cover letter naming the department and courses
- References. Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan asks for three letters of recommendation.
- A short sample lesson, in case the interview includes one
After you apply, contact the department. Grand Rapids Community College encourages applicants for an upcoming term to "reach out to the Dean's Office directly." A short email with your CV, the courses you can teach and your availability reaches the people who build the schedule. Apply well before the term starts, since pools are screened as courses are scheduled.
Plan adjunct work around your schedule
Adjunct work is part-time by design: the BLS notes that part-time work is common among postsecondary teachers. If you're a K-12 teacher or work full-time elsewhere, ask departments about evening, weekend and online sections, which may fit around your day. Check your current employer's rules on outside work, too.
Next step
Browse current adjunct openings at colleges and universities, and search by subject and location.
