Schools Professor at college with only a B.S. in physics?

AI Thread Summary
In the discussion about the qualifications of college-level physics instructors, it is established that in the United States, professors typically need at least a master's degree to meet accreditation requirements, including for community colleges. Most universities mandate that faculty members hold a PhD, especially in fields like physics, where hiring practices favor candidates with advanced degrees due to the competitive applicant pool. Exceptions are noted in the fine and performing arts, where some instructors, such as a trumpet professor at Northwestern with only a bachelor's degree, have achieved notable success. However, such cases are uncommon in the sciences, reflecting a broader trend towards higher educational qualifications for teaching positions at non-community colleges.
Geremia
Messages
150
Reaction score
0
Are there professors with only bachelor's degrees in physics who teach at the (non community-college) college level? What type of colleges and professors are these? Thanks
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I have never heard of such a thing. All the professors at my university are required to have a phd or to be currently pursing one (have a masters and earning a phd and have teaching responsibilities to earn it and teach classes to get the degree)
 
Geremia said:
Are there professors with only bachelor's degrees in physics who teach at the (non community-college) college level? What type of colleges and professors are these? Thanks

Not in the United States. Having instructors of record with masters degree is an absolute requirement for college accreditation (including community colleges) for several of the accreditators (namely SACS), and it's become an implicit requirement for the others.
 
Not in Europe either, where the title of "Professor" seems to be more exclusive than in the U.S. and only applies to people holding a chair. At my university, most classes are taught by proper Professors, and the ones who aren't are taught by someone with a PhD at least.
 
In physics, I know of none, and while there are some MS faculty out there hired years ago, new hires are almost always at the PhD level. I can think of one exception, and that was a two-body hire with one member of the couple finishing off the dissertation. Why would a college hire someone without a PhD when they have a hundred applicants of people with PhDs?

It is less gobsmackingly rare in the fine and performing arts. Barbara Butler, professor of trumpet at Northwestern, has a BMus. She also has former students in just about every major symphony orchestra in the US.
 
Hey, I am Andreas from Germany. I am currently 35 years old and I want to relearn math and physics. This is not one of these regular questions when it comes to this matter. So... I am very realistic about it. I know that there are severe contraints when it comes to selfstudy compared to a regular school and/or university (structure, peers, teachers, learning groups, tests, access to papers and so on) . I will never get a job in this field and I will never be taken serious by "real"...
Yesterday, 9/5/2025, when I was surfing, I found an article The Schwarzschild solution contains three problems, which can be easily solved - Journal of King Saud University - Science ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION IN AN ARID ENVIRONMENT https://jksus.org/the-schwarzschild-solution-contains-three-problems-which-can-be-easily-solved/ that has the derivation of a line element as a corrected version of the Schwarzschild solution to Einstein’s field equation. This article's date received is 2022-11-15...
Back
Top