While a bachelor's degree and licensure is generally enough to earn you a K-12 teaching position, these often don't provide sufficient training in the development of policies and procedures, developing curricula and instructional methods, formulating pedagogical theories, and conducting research into highly specific or technical areas. And a bachelor's degree and licensure also won't enable you to teach at the college level. Postsecondary education is expected to be one of the fastest growing and highest paid professions of the coming decade.

If you want to be involved in higher-level decision-making positions at the K-12 level, conduct educational research, publish scholarly articles, or land a great-paying postsecondary education job, you'll need to earn an education doctoral degree. As the highest level of training one can earn in the field of education, an educational doctoral degree will enable you to explore educational theories in your chosen field - for example, educational technology, literacy, or educational management. You'll also study public policy and various legal matters related to education.

Whether you choose to teach younger students or those at the college level, an educational doctoral degree will give you the greatest amount of flexibility in where, and what, you want to teach, or whether you might want to move beyond the classroom to advance to leadership positions, such as superintendent or dean. An educational doctoral degree is also the most widely respected and sought after educational level among the federal government, so those aspiring to leadership at that level will find an educational doctoral degree a valuable credential.