How much is the annual salary of an English Professor with a Masters degree?

Question

Anyone know the annual salary of an English Professor with a masters degree? I want to major in English and become a professor but many people tell me that professors don't make much money compared to the amount they give to go to school for the years they do. Any advice and info would help.

Answer 1

Without a PhD, I assume you mean a professor at a junior college, in which case, the salary is extremely low - on par with that of a high school teacher.

OK, as sfru pointed out, you don't need a PhD, unless you plan to work at a respectable university. I'm sure the University of Phoenix will pay you loads more than a JC.

sfru may need to post her resume to gain traction in this discussion, but I assure you that U of Iowa is chock full of PhDs. In fact, do a quick check and you'll find the first 10 professors listed for the department have, guess what, PhDs. Sure, you could be that 1 in 100 who does not, but not without published material or work experience commensurate with a PhD.

sfru, you can blow smoke all you want, but the reality is that to become a professor at a quality university, a PhD is a pre-requisite, and even with that (in English), the competition's tough.

Answer 2

I've received English degrees from two private (not to mention expensive) universities. The majority of my profs at both schools had only MFA's. Your salary may increase if you've got a doctorate from a good school, but for generally the English field places more importance on publishing. Harvard English would be far happier to have Michael Chabon as a professor than someone with a doctorate who's published no work at all.

Answer 3

To teach at a jr college with a masters degree, you will make less than teaching grades k - 12. With a PhD in English, teaching at a four year college, you may make a little better living. If you want to make a good salary as a professor, you must have a PhD in some form of business those are the ones making 80K+.

Answer 4

English professors at respectable universities have Ph.Ds, not just master's degrees. Because there is a glut of Ph.D.s in English, very often it is hard for someone with a Master's degree to find even a community college position. If the community college does hire them, it is to save on salary, which is low even for those with Ph.Ds.

Answer 5

You don't need a PhD to be a college professor. (A lot professor at junior college only have a Bachelors). It depends on what school you attend to get your degree and what school you decide to teach at after you graduate. If you teach at a school that takes in a lot of money from tuition, there is going to be more money coming your way. Private institutions in many states will pay more than state schools.

Daniel Boone, did you go to college? The most respectable english program in the country is at the University of Iowa and half their teaching professors don't have a PhD. Just google any college and see how many professors didn't undergo a doctoral program. That's a ridiculous assumption. Creative writing MFA programs are taught by writers that don't have doctorates. Here's the faculty list for the U of Iowa http://www.uiowa.edu/~iww/faculty/index.html