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[ac_armstrong]

I posted this to the mid careers fora, and it was suggested that I post here.  To anyone who might be able to answer this question, I would greatly appreciate your advice. This is my dilemma:

I am currently applying to graduate school for TESOL, and was hoping to get some professional advice regarding credentials for finding university, college or language institute TESOL jobs in the U.S. after graduation.

I am first applying to the Peace Corps through the Master's International Program (MIP) for graduate studies in TESOL or ESL (probably through American University in D.C., U of M in Baltimore, or Monterrey Institute in CA), but I am a bit leery of how obtaining a TESOL Master's through MIP participation is viewed in the professional world. I would assume that it is highly regarded, but was hoping to confirm this by a professional opinion. For those who are unfamiliar, once finished with the MIP program I will have a MA in TESOL with two years of teaching experience abroad, and one year of academic studies, including a master's thesis. I was hoping to obtain a realistic answer for my prospects of finding a job in a university or college setting with these credentials after graduation.  Note that the Peace Corps volunteers are provided government job preference after completion of the program. 

My alternate, secondary plan is to simply do the MA in TESOL through a traditional two-year graduate program (perhaps University of Oregon or UCLA) without Peace Corps involvement.   In this scenario, I would still seek teaching abroad experience after graduation for a minimum of one year before entering the US workforce. 

I am also wondering if the Ph.D is absolutely necessary for this career path, for fulltime teaching in higher education.  I have heard that tenure jobs are impossible without the Ph.D, but was hoping for more opinions, experiences, etc. 

If I could get any advice about which avenue might be best it would be of great service to my academic decision and future career. Can anyone advise?

[alto_stratus]

I would take a look at the schools/jobs you are interested in and review the backgrounds of those faculty/staff in those positions.  If you are interested in working in an intensive English program, I think either method of earning your degree would be useful.  Depending on where else you are looking (linguistics depts, education depts) another degree or combination of degrees might be more appropriate.