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How Much Do College Professors Make

How Much Do College Professors Make?

The position of a College professor opens doors to a challenging and enriching experience to mingle with youth, their energy, talent, and innovative ideas. This intellectual stimulation of the university and academic environment can be a very gratifying effort, giving you the satisfaction of shaping the career of students while also solving complex problems faced in daily life.

College professors have a lot of duties to perform, be it production of scholarly articles, continuous research, teaching courses and sharing ideas. An able professor must also like to interact with people from all walks of life like students, colleagues, industry representative, parents, and other community members.

A professor at the university passes through 3 ranks in his career, namely, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and a full-tenured Professor with the latter being the highest rank, and designation. Even though most professors perform similar duties and need to have common soft skills and inquisitiveness, compensation paid to them varies on the basis of their field as well as the level of seniority in the university.

Salaries also vary for public and private universities, with private universities offering higher compensation than their public counterparts.

National Average

According to the data from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, the national mean salary for all college and university professors was around $73,000 annually. This combines wages for both public and private institutions.

For a public university, the average salary of a full-tenured professor was around $114,000 while that of an Associate Professor was around $82,000. Assistant professors earned an average of about $70,000.

The figures for a full-tenured professor at private universities were higher. A full-tenured professor at a private university averaged a salary of around $121,000, while an associate professor made about $81,000 and an assistant professor earned about $70,000 per year.

How Much Do College Professors Make

Variance by Profession

Apart from this, salaries of College Professors also vary by their respective fields. Here are some common fields that have a wider range of professor salaries:

Medical Professor

Average Salary: About $154,000

Salary Range: $134,000 – $210,000

What does he do: A medical professor teaches medicine courses to prospective doctors. This requires medical degrees like MD, MBBS, DO and other specializations according to the area of expertise.

Dentistry Professor

Average Salary: About $130,000

Salary Range: $106,000 – $169,000

What does he do: Dentistry professors offer the skill sets and tools used to undergrads learning to become a dentist. The experience possessed by professors is also of great value, so are degrees like Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) and Doctor of Dental Medicine (DDM). Any published works in a journal and a higher level of experience also help in increasing the wages of a Dentistry professor.

Engineering Professor

Average Salary: About $154,000

Salary Range: $134,000 – $210,000

What does he do: Engineering professor require specialization in their respective fields like Civil or Mechanical Engineering. A Ph.D., teaching skills and knowledge that combines math, science and engineering technology are an ideal skillset for engineering professors.

Accounting Professor

Average Salary: About $121,000

Salary Range: $91,000 – $196,000

What does he do: Accounting professors impart the knowledge of accounting and associated skills to undergrads. Many universities need professors to have a doctoral degree in this field as well as a CPA license for a higher compensation package.

Business Professor

Average Salary: About $117,000

Salary Range: $90,000 – $202,000

What does he do: Business professors impart knowledge in the fields of finance, marketing, management and any general topics related to businesses. Professors need to have a degree in DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) to gain an upper hand in their career prospects.

Architecture Professor

Average Salary: About $107,000

Salary Range: $83,000 – $146,000

What does he do: Architecture professors are typically leaders in their fields with extensive publications to their credit. They teach courses in the area of architecture to students and possess a doctoral or terminal degree in architecture.

How Much Do College Professors Make

Physics Professor

Average Salary: About $105,000

Salary Range: $77,000 – $168,000

What does he do: A physics professor teaches subjects like quantum physics, thermodynamics, and astrophysics. Strong research skills, a Ph.D. degree and a scientific bent of mind are a must to become a Physics Professor.

Mathematics Professor

Average Salary: About $98,000

Salary Range: $75,000 – $150,000

What does he do: A mathematics professor needs to have a Ph.D. in Mathematics along with expertise in topology, geometry or game theory. Candidates with significant contribution in the field are preferred by Universities.

Nursing Professor

Average Salary: About $92,000

Salary Range: $74,000 – $136,000

What does he do: A Nursing professor teaches nursing skills to undergraduate students. The license of a registered nurse (RN) along with several years of experience is a must for teaching students in the University.

English Professor

Average Salary: About $88,000

Salary Range: $72,000 – $143,000

What does he do: English professors teach subjects like linguistics, mythology, creative writing and literature to students. These professors need a doctoral degree and are also expected to regularly publish articles, books, novels or any other piece of literature.

Music Professor

Average Salary: About $88,000

Salary Range: $71,000 – $138,000

What does he do: A music professor teaches courses in the area of music. They have usually made special contributions to the field of music and also play an active role in the University with performances and support of music-related events.

Law Professor

Average Salary: About $165,000

Salary Range: $115,000 – $228,000

What does he do: Law professors teach a wide variety of subjects in law like real estate, criminal to corporate law. They need a law school degree of Juris Doctorate (JD) for teaching at University.

How Much Do College Professors Make

Salaries for professor display a huge disparity when it comes to different disciplines. However, this may not be reflective of the quality or importance of a particular field but more indicative of the job market and the laws of supply and demand.

Finally, any department receives a salary budget depending on the tuition income it generates, which means that universities, where students make higher incomes after graduation, tend to have bigger budgets for professor salaries.

A lot of difference also arises from sponsorships or departmental chairs offered to certain tenured or associate professors. Corporate funding and charitable donations by alumni can also make a lot of impact on the money made by College Professors.

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