How much on average does a college professor make?

Question

If anyone knows how much professor makes... I would like to know! If you know about Missouri colleges, then that would be even better!

Answer 1

I am very surprised to read other people's answers. In fact, salaries vary widely, depending upon the following factors:

geographical location (urban/rural, east/midwest/west/south, etc.)

type of institution (doctoral granting, master's granting, baccalaureate, two-year college)

field of specialization

rank of professor

For example, professors who teach in departments of business always have considerably higher salaries (sometimes double the amount) than those in the humanities. Professors who teach at private colleges are most often paid more than those at public institutions, and professors who teach at urban universities are generally paid more than professors who teach at rural colleges.

The most significant factor in detemining salary is always rank. Lecturers and instructors are paid the least, assistant professors are next, then associate professors, and finally, full professors.

Here's the latest summary report from the National Center for Education Statistics. (2005-06 data is not out yet.)

"The 2004-05 academic year salaries of full-time instructional faculty varied by academic rank, with faculty holding higher ranks earning higher average salaries... [P]rofessors earned $87,634; associate professors earned $63,567; assistant professors earned $53,481, instructors earned $46,238, and lecturers earned $44,385.

In general, men earned higher average salaries than women. For example, male professors at 4-year public institutions earned $91,102 and female professors at 4-year public institutions earned $81,719 on average."

Answer 2

400 grand?? You've got to be kidding. Mr. Curious is right, usually 50-100k/year depending on:

1. their rank (assistant [pre-tenured], associate, full). Tenure and rank are earned according to years put in, number and quality of publications (at least one book), courses taught, dissertations directed, and a review process that evaluates the quality of their teaching and research. Of course you also have graduate instructors, adjuncts and lecturers, who are non-tenure-track and make far less.

2. the school and its location (cost of living)

3. teaching loads and extra responsibilities (extra pay for being chair or running a program or doing double duty as a dean or director of something).

and sometimes 4. endowments and grants from the university or outside it, either as extra salary to attract a big-name scholar or money specifically allocated for a research project

Sometimes there are other factors too--department, reputation, awards, bargaining skills!

They may or may not make a lot from book royalties. More often than not, the books they write are bought almost exclusively by libraries and they're not paid for articles (at least not directly; they will, however, help advance a prof toward tenure, which means more money).

University professors make decent money but aren't filthy rich. Most of the tuition money at expensive private schools does not go straight to the professors.

Answer 3

It not only depends on the college or university you are at, but also on the field you are in. I make about $50 K (PhD in Linguistics, teaching in an English department). Professors in Engineering make double that. It all depends on how much the department has to pay in order to compete with private industry. There is no private industry demand for Linguistics, so they don't need to pay us so much. But there is huge private industry demand for Engineers so they must pay them more to stay at the university. I also teach at a state university in a state that is notorious for low pay (but I grew up here, so I stay). Private universities tend to pay more than state universities. On the average, a humanities professor can expect 40-90 K during his or her career. A science or engineering professor can expect roughly double that.

Answer 4

Here's what the US Dept of Labor has to say:

"Median annual earnings of all postsecondary teachers in May 2004 were $51,800. The middle 50 percent earned between $36,590 and $72,490. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $25,460, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $99,980..." More can be found at the below link.

Hope that helps!

Answer 5

I am from a small private institution (with a prestigous reputation) and our faculty start out right at 31k and top out at 78k. Most make in the mid 50s. Everything depends on the type of institution. It is definetely not too much when you consider the cost of the education and sacrifice it took to get there.
If you're tired of the high cost of your education don't look to your profs, look to your administrators...for them 100-400k is by no means outrageous...

Answer 6

To the guy who said "too much": try working your tail off (academically speaking) without pay for 8-12 years of your life to get a PhD then see if you think its still "too much". Nobody would even bother with it if it paid poorly relative to education level.

I can tell you for community college faculty you can make 40-70k and is very dependent on years of service and if you teach overloads and summers.

Answer 7

Of course it varies but the above two answers are probably high (from my experience.) I think most start around 50,000 and can top out at possible 90,000. The REAL money made by professors comes from their book publishing.

Answer 8

1

Answer 9

I think in the 100 K range.

Salary.com will give you a definite answer.

Answer 10

two to three college babes a semester