This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Not everyone who teaches in a college or university is a professor. Many are instructors or lecturers. In fact, not even all professors are full professors. Many of them are assistant or associate professors or adjunct professors.

So what do all of these different academic titles mean at American colleges and universities? Get ready for a short lecture, especially if you are thinking of a career in higher education.

Professors usually need a doctoral degree. But sometimes a school will offer positions to people who have not yet received their doctorate.