Skip to content
Boston Career Explorer

Educational Instruction and Library

Communications Teachers, Postsecondary

Teach courses in communications, such as organizational communications, public relations, radio/television broadcasting, and journalism. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

Also called: Communication Arts Professor, Communication Instructor, Communication Lecturer, Communication Professor, Communication Skills Instructor, Communication Studies Professor

Median pay in Greater Boston
$80,890
Jobs in Greater Boston
920
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+5.9%
90 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Doctoral or professional degree

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$60,730$64,840$80,890$100,890$169,480

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers.
  • Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
  • Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
  • Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
  • Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.
  • Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as public speaking, media criticism, and oral traditions.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Higher exposure93 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 92
  • Language-model AIOE 98
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 90

Observed AI use today: Substantial (Anthropic Economic Index)

This job has higher AI exposure, and AI tools are already used substantially in this kind of work. Tools can help with writing syllabi and handouts, building exams, grading, and summarizing research. Running class discussion, mentoring students, and deciding what questions to research are still people's work, so the job is likely to shift rather than disappear.

Likely to change

  • Writing syllabi, handouts, and exam questions
  • Grading papers and giving first-draft feedback

Still relies on people

  • Leading live classroom discussion
  • Mentoring students and guiding their research

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

Related jobs that build on what you already do.

Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

60 programs near Boston (plus 30 graduate)

Related occupations

Talk to a career coach

A coach at the Office of Workforce Development can help you plan your next step, and connect you with training, apprenticeships and City partner programs that are not listed here.

Talk to a career coach