Educational Instruction and Library

Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary

Teach courses in psychology, such as child, clinical, and developmental psychology, and psychological counseling. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

MAY 2025 · OCCUPATIONAL WAGES

A wage reference for United States.

Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.

Source wage group: Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary

This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.

May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.

Median annual wage$80,340USD per year · Published 50th percentile

Annual wage thresholds

USD per year

Published occupational wage percentiles · United States · May 2025
PercentileAnnual wage (USD/year)Hourly wage (USD/hour)
10th$49,050Not published
25th$63,400Not published
50th · Median$80,340Not published
75th$105,920Not published
90th$153,600Not published

“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.

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THE WORK BEHIND THE TITLE

What this career involves.

Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.

Selected title examples

Abnormal Psychology TeacherAdjunct InstructorAdjunct ProfessorAdjunct Psychology Faculty MemberAdjunct Psychology InstructorAdjunct Psychology ProfessorApplied Psychology ProfessorApplied Psychology TeacherAssistant ProfessorAssociate ProfessorChild Development InstructorChild Development Professor
Expand more title examples (27)
Child Development TeacherChild Psychology TeacherClinical Psychology ProfessorClinical Psychology TeacherCollege Faculty MemberCollege ProfessorEducational Psychology ProfessorEducational Psychology TeacherFaculty MemberHuman Relations ProfessorHuman Relations TeacherI/O Psychology Professor (Industrial/Organizational Psychology Professor)Industrial Psychology ProfessorIndustrial Psychology TeacherInstructorLecturerMental Measurements TeacherProfessorPsychology Adjunct InstructorPsychology Assistant ProfessorPsychology Faculty MemberPsychology InstructorPsychology LecturerPsychology ProfessorSchool Psychology ProfessorTeacherUniversity Faculty Member

Typical tasks

  • Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as abnormal psychology, cognitive processes, and work motivation.
  • Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
  • Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory work, assignments, and papers.
  • Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
  • Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
  • Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
Expand more tasks (23)
  • Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work.
  • Recruit and hire new faculty.
  • Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.
  • Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.
  • Develop and use multimedia course materials and other current technology, such as online courses.
  • Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.
  • Perform administrative duties, such as serving as department head.
  • Collaborate with colleagues to address teaching and research issues.
  • Advise students on academic and vocational curricula and on career issues.
  • Write grant proposals to procure external research funding.
  • Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
  • Write letters of recommendation for students.
  • Serve on academic or administrative committees that deal with institutional policies, departmental matters, and academic issues.
  • Participate in student recruitment, registration, and placement activities.
  • Select and obtain materials and supplies, such as textbooks.
  • Supervise students' laboratory work.
  • Supervise the clinical work of practicum students.
  • Provide clinical services to clients, such as assessing psychological problems and conducting psychotherapy.
  • Review books and journal articles for potential publication.
  • Compile bibliographies of specialized materials for outside reading assignments.
  • Act as advisers to student organizations.
  • Participate in campus and community events.
  • Provide professional consulting services to government or industry.

Skills used in this work

Learning Strategies
Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Instructing
Teaching others how to do something.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Expand more skills (29)
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Science
Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Systems Analysis
Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Systems Evaluation
Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Mathematics
Using mathematics to solve problems.
Service Orientation
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Management of Personnel Resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Persuasion
Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Negotiation
Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Operations Analysis
Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
Management of Material Resources
Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
Programming
Writing computer programs for various purposes.
Management of Financial Resources
Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
Technology Design
Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
Quality Control Analysis
Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
Operations Monitoring
Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Equipment Maintenance
Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
Equipment Selection
Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
Installation
Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
Operation and Control
Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Repairing
Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
Troubleshooting
Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
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United States wage reference

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Sources and citation.

Cite this page: Wages.fyi, “Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary career and wage guide.” Link to this Wages.fyi page

This page includes information from the O*NET® 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wages.fyi has selected and organized this information and added wage navigation and explanations. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Database license and attribution requirements.

Official occupation profile · Official wage reference . Wage reference: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service. Source data and publication dates can differ from the date this page is accessed.