Assistant Professor Vacancies at US Universities — Tenure-Track, Research, Clinical and Teaching-Focused

Assistant professor is the entry rank of the US professorial ladder. The modifier in front of the title decides the contract, and only one of the five common variants carries a route to tenure.

What is advertised under this title

• Assistant Professor — normally tenure-track, with a probationary period and a tenure review
• Research Assistant Professor — grant-funded, lasting as long as the award
• Clinical Assistant Professor — professional schools; licensure and practice usually matter most
• Teaching Assistant Professor — teaching-focused, often renewable, outside the tenure system
• Visiting Assistant Professor — a fixed term, often one year

Requirements

• A doctorate or other terminal degree in the discipline, usually in hand by the start date
• Evidence of research and a plan for the next five years, for tenure-track and research posts
• Evidence of teaching effectiveness, which decides most searches at teaching-focused institutions
• Three referees contacted in advance of the deadline

The hiring cycle

Adverts appear from late summer through autumn for an August start, with deadlines between October and December, campus visits in winter and spring, and offers in spring. Applying outside that cycle mostly reaches visiting and non-tenure-track work.

Pay and the offer

• AAUP 2025–26 average for an assistant professor: $97,232
• BLS medians by institution: $96,120 state universities, $89,660 private, $81,640 local junior colleges, $68,160 state junior colleges
• Startup funds, course release, moving costs and the tenure clock are negotiated once, at offer stage

Get everything agreed in the offer letter. Pay data is from the AAUP and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, not by JobGader; each institution sets its own tenure criteria and startup package.