# Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary

US SOC code 25-9044. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/25-9044

Also called: Graduate teaching assistant, TA, GTA, Teaching fellow, Lab teaching assistant.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **164,090** US postsecondary teaching assistants, with median pay of **$42,910** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2021, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_higher_education_in_the_United_States) of **4,000** from 1900, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for postsecondary teaching assistants: AI-assisted grading infrastructure, 2012 to 2023.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 2.7% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=25-9044&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **36.4%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend.

## Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1876
- Latest US employment: 164,090 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [5]
- Latest US median pay: $42,910 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [7]
- Outlook: +2.7% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [19]

### All 12 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1900 | 4,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Wikipedia [1] |
| 1950 | 50,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Insight Into Diversity [2] |
| 1966 | n/a | $2,500 (estimate) | Est., Teaching Assistants Association [6] |
| 1970 | 145,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Graduate Worker Organizing [3] |
| 2001 | 300,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Graduate student employee unionization [4] |
| 2019 | 137,500 | $32,080 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [5] |
| 2020 | 138,740 | $36,250 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [5] |
| 2021 | 121,290 | $38,040 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [5] |
| 2022 | 135,160 | $38,050 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [5] |
| 2023 | 145,960 | $43,750 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [5] |
| 2024 | 155,010 | $44,930 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [5] |
| 2025 | 164,090 | $42,910 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [5] |

## Sources (50)

### Employment series

1. [History of higher education in the United States — Wikipedia (doctoral enrollment history, 1878-1898)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_higher_education_in_the_United_States), Wikipedia
2. [History of the G.I. Bill and Its Impact on U.S. Higher Education — Insight Into Diversity (enrollment surge, 1944-1960)](https://www.insightintodiversity.com/how-the-gi-bill-has-evolved-and-enabled-access-to-higher-education/), Insight Into Diversity
3. [Graduate Worker Organizing: Fifty Years after the University of Wisconsin TAA Strike — Perspectives on History, AHA (2020)](https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/october-2020/graduate-worker-organizing-fifty-years-after-the-university-of-wisconsins-taa-strike), American Historical Association
4. [Graduate student employee unionization — Wikipedia (union membership growth 1990-2001)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_student_employee_unionization), Wikipedia
5. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

6. [Teaching Assistants Association — Wikipedia (TAA founding 1966, stipend conditions)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaching_Assistants_Association), Wikipedia
7. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Tool eras

8. [Founding America's First Research University — Richmond Fed Economic Focus (Johns Hopkins 1876, German university model)](https://www.richmondfed.org/publications/research/econ_focus/2018/q3/economic_history), Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
9. [An Historical Overview of the Training of Teaching Assistants — ERIC ED285511](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED285511.pdf), ERIC / US Department of Education
10. [History and Impact of the G.I. Bill on U.S. Education — Insight Into Diversity](https://www.insightintodiversity.com/how-the-gi-bill-has-evolved-and-enabled-access-to-higher-education/), Insight Into Diversity
11. [Training the Teaching Assistant — Perspectives on History, AHA (November 1997)](https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/november-1997/training-the-teaching-assistant), American Historical Association
12. [Wikipedia — Blackboard Inc. (LMS history, WebCT acquisition, 1996-2005)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackboard_Inc.), Wikipedia
13. [Wikipedia — Moodle (history, founded 2002)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodle), Wikipedia
14. [Gradescope — AI-Assisted Grading and Answer Groups (2024)](https://guides.gradescope.com/hc/en-us/articles/24838908062093-AI-assisted-grading-and-answer-groups), Gradescope / Turnitin
15. [Turnitin — AI Bypasser Detection Launch (August 2025)](https://www.turnitin.com/press/turnitin-expands-capabilities-amid-rising-threats-posed-by-ai-bypassers), Turnitin
16. [Khanmigo — AI-Powered Tutor and Teaching Assistant (Khan Academy, 2023)](https://www.khanmigo.ai/), Khan Academy
17. [MagicSchool AI — Platform for Educators (2023)](https://www.magicschool.ai/magicschool), MagicSchool AI
18. [Google NotebookLM — AI Research and Thinking Partner (2023)](https://notebooklm.google/), Google

### Forecasts and exposure studies

19. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 25-9044 Teaching assistants, postsecondary (2025: 205.5 thousand; 2035: 211.0 thousand; +2.7%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=25-9044&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
20. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 25-9044.00, human-rated β 0.364)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

21. [Founding America's First Research University — Richmond Fed Economic Focus, Q3 2018](https://www.richmondfed.org/publications/research/econ_focus/2018/q3/economic_history), Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
22. [How the GI Bill Has Evolved and Enabled Access to Higher Education — Insight Into Diversity](https://www.insightintodiversity.com/how-the-gi-bill-has-evolved-and-enabled-access-to-higher-education/), Insight Into Diversity
23. [Teaching Assistants Association — Wikipedia (founding 1966, first recognition 1969)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaching_Assistants_Association), Wikipedia
24. [UW-Madison Teaching Assistants Association Strike of 1970 — UW Archives and Records Management](https://www.library.wisc.edu/archives/exhibits/uw-madison-teaching-assistants-association-strike-of-1970-2/), UW-Madison Libraries Archives
25. [Graduate student employee unionization — Wikipedia (union membership 1990-2001 growth)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_student_employee_unionization), Wikipedia
26. [NLRB Rules Graduate Students Are Employees With The Right To Unionize — NPR (August 23, 2016)](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/23/491090762/nlrb-rules-graduate-students-are-employees-with-the-right-to-unionize), NPR
27. [UNMC Newsroom — Khanmigo Now Available Through Canvas (June 2025)](https://www.unmc.edu/newsroom/2025/06/02/ai-tool-khanmigo-now-available-through-canvas/), UNMC

### Predecessors & successors

28. [History of higher education in the United States — Wikipedia (graduate fellows and teaching, 1876-1940)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_higher_education_in_the_United_States), Wikipedia

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary (25-9044.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/25-9044.00), accessed 2026-06-05
- [BLS OEWS — Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary, May 2024 (25-9044) (national flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), accessed 2026-10-07
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-06-05
- [BLS OOH — Postsecondary Teachers, 2024-34 Outlook](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/postsecondary-teachers.htm), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Gradescope — AI-Assisted Grading and Answer Groups (2024)](https://guides.gradescope.com/hc/en-us/articles/24838908062093-AI-assisted-grading-and-answer-groups), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Apporto — How Gradescope AI-Assisted Grading Works (2025)](https://www.apporto.com/gradescopes-ai-assisted-grading-explained), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Google NotebookLM — AI Research and Thinking Partner (2025)](https://notebooklm.google/), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Rutgers IT — NotebookLM AI-Powered Research Assistant (August 2025)](https://it.rutgers.edu/2025/08/07/unlock-ai-powered-research-assistant-with-googles-notebooklm/), accessed 2026-06-05
- [MagicSchool AI — Platform for Educators (2023)](https://www.magicschool.ai/magicschool), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Google for Education — NotebookLM for Educators (2025)](https://edu.google.com/intl/ALL_us/ai-notebooklm/), accessed 2026-06-05

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.