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[newday]

I have noticed that many job announcements for community college teaching positions declare that you must have an MA in the area of the position or 18 hours in it.  If you have a master's degree in one area and want to get 18 hours of coursework in another area so that you can be hired for a position in that other area, is that possible?  I know this may sound stupid, but I wasn't sure if you can just do the 18 hours or if you have to get an MA in that area.  Will graduate programs even let you do that?

[aandsdean]

Usually they mean 18 hours in the other area on the way to a more advanced degree--I.e., that you have a Ph.D. in English but 18 graduate hours in history. 

However, if a place is desperate, an M.A. in a reasonably related area and 18 grad hours in the teaching area may work.  It's ok from an accreditation standpoint for teaching undergrads.

[zharkov]

About the "18 hour rule," that varies by accreditor, and by individual schools.  Also, keep in mind that it is a minimum qualification, not a guarantee of a job or that you'd even get an interview.

That said, some grad programs allow non-degree enrollment, so envision an MBA, for example, who went back and took 4 or 5 more grad courses in economics (beyond the one or two in the MBA), and thus became (minimally) qualified to teach economics.