Teachers with a bachelor’s degree and a TESOL (teacher of English to speakers of other languages) certification can teach in many schools and English programs around the world. However, having a master’s degree in TESOL can open up many doors to higher-level positions and salaries, especially in the United States.

College
Teachers with master’s degrees in TESOL or applied linguistics can often get positions in community colleges, colleges and universities teaching English to students in the school’s ESOL program. These students are preparing themselves to take college-level courses in English in the United States, and the curricula in these programs prepare them to use academic English on a regular basis.

Other Jobs
Teachers with master’s degrees in TESOL can also head ESOL programs in a variety of settings. They can coordinate ESOL programs and supervise other ESOL teachers in them. The salary of an ESOL coordinator/supervisor is in the $40,000 range as of January 2011, according to the job and salary website Simply Hired. An advertised position on the HigherEd Jobs website for an ESL Coordinator and Lecturer at the University of Notre Dame in January 2011 had a salary of $40,000 plus full benefits.

Overseas
Having a master’s degree in TESOL can also help a job candidate get a higher salary or position overseas. Many English teachers only have a certification, so having a master’s degree will set you apart from other applicants. Salaries for overseas TESOL positions vary by country and employer, but a master's degree salary consistently exceeds that of a TESOL certificate salary.

Salaries
In the United States, ESOL teachers can expect to earn in the range of about $32,600 per year to about $51,000 as of January 2011, according to the salary survey site, Pay Scale. Teachers with master’s degrees can expect to earn in the top percentiles of this range. Teachers who work in adult education in the United States can earn a salary of about $45,920 as of May 2009, according the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. An example of a TESOL teacher’s salary from the New York State TESOL association’s job posting in December 2010 was $47 to $52 an hour for a part-time ESL Instructor at the University of Connecticut, Stamford campus. The preferred qualifications for this job included having a master’s degree in TESOL.