How Much Do College Professors Make?
Credit: Klaus Vedfelt / DigitalVision / Getty Images- Full college professors in the U.S. made an average of $155,056 in 2023-24.
- Senior-level professors at private institutions boast the highest annual earnings.
- Adjunct and other non-tenured faculty earn considerably less per year.
- Despite rapidly rising student costs and executive compensation, professors’ pay only rose 4%, or by 0.6% when adjusting for inflation.
While the role of college professor offers unique rewards, one challenge can be the pay structure. Salaries for university professors can vary greatly, and, unfortunately for some, the pay isn’t always as generous as it’s rumored to be.
Still, the average college professor salary isn’t too shabby. According to data from the American Association of University Professors, the average full-time college professor, combining all instructor types and university categories, made $112,139 in the 2023-24 academic year. Full professors in the U.S. made an average of $155,056 during that same period.
The association looked at average salaries at nearly 870 institutions across the nation and found that, among many qualifying factors, professors’ education and job levels, as well as the types of institutions for which they work, influence their average pay.
Professor Salary Varies by Job Level, College Type
Generally, the three main ranks for college professors are assistant, associate, and full. Usually in the beginning phases of their tenure track, assistant professors are full-time, introductory professors who have earned a terminal degree. Associate professors are mid-level, tenured professors, while full professors are at the senior level.
Outside these three traditional ranks, there are also adjunct faculty and full-time, non-tenured faculty with titles such as lecturer or instructor.
Beyond professors’ job ranks, the type of university they teach at — public, private or independent, or religiously affiliated — and the education level of the students they instruct can affect their annual pay.
| All Institution Types | Public | Private or Independent | Religiously Affiliated | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professor | $155,056 | $145,112 | $196,353 | $136,928 |
| Associate Professor | $106,216 | $104,179 | $120,631 | $97,721 |
| Assistant Professor | $92,094 | $90,309 | $105,491 | $83,400 |
| Instructor | $69,307 | $65,742 | $79,079 | $73,229 |
| Lecturer | $75,841 | $70,956 | $95,406 | $66,824 |
| No Rank | $76,502 | $76,878 | $74,370 | $74,857 |
| Combined | $112,139 | $106,726 | $137,889 | $102,177 |
The average salary for a full professor at private, doctoral institutions was the highest among all total salaries, at $227,163. Meanwhile, assistant professors at public 2-year institutions had the lowest average salary at $49,623.
At baccalaureate institutions, full professors make an average of $109,631 at public universities and $134,507 at private universities. This 23% difference illustrates how much more professors can make in the private sector.
Professor Pay Stays the Same Even as Costs Rise
Over the last decade, shifts in the average college professor salary in the U.S. have been minimal. Between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years, the increase in average professor salaries was just 4% for all professor ranks at all institution types.
When adjusted for inflation, however, this shift was only 0.6%.
The stagnant nature of professor pay is surprising when compared with the rising tuition costs and increased pay for top executives at universities. In the last decade, college tuition has increased by approximately 46%, while presidential salaries have risen beyond most experts’ ability to track their rise.
Adjunct Professors Often Make Less Than You Think
A 2023 report by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) details how adjunct professors — contingent faculty who are not on the tenure track — are struggling to make ends meet.
The report, which surveyed more than 1,043 respondents at two- and four-year universities in May and August 2022, found that more than a quarter of adjunct professors earned less than $26,500 annually. This places them below the federal poverty line for a family of four.
The AFT’s findings also disproved the commonly held belief that adjunct professors typically hold other well-paying jobs outside teaching. Only 15% of respondents reported that they can comfortably cover their month-to-month expenses. Additionally, nearly half put off getting needed healthcare, and almost 20% rely on Medicaid.
The study also detailed how much colleges and universities have increased their reliance on adjunct faculty. Today, more than 2 in 3 faculty are ineligible for tenure and 48% hold part-time positions, whereas 40 years ago, 70% were tenured or on the tenure track.
Professors’ Pay Can Top $1 Million, but It’s Rare
Though most university professors make less than $250,000 annually, there’s a small contingent of professors who have topped the $1 million annual salary mark. This is normally because of other roles they hold at their institutions, beyond that of professor.
In 2021, Zev Rosenwaks of Cornell University earned $8.8 million as a tenured clinical professor, according to tax filings from that year. Rosenwaks’ salary was nearly eight times the salary of the university’s president at that time.
Rosenwaks was one of several Cornell professors to rake in millions in 2021. Associate clinical professors Hey-Joo Kang and Kieyhun Daniel Riew, as well as assistant clinical professor Rony Elias, each earned over $3 million that year.
Besides Cornell, other prestigious universities occasionally offer professors salaries in the millions. In 2021, Harvard computer science professor David J. Malan earned $1.5 million in reportable compensation, according to tax filings.
During the same year, University of Southern California professors Laura Mosqueda and Charles Zukoski each earned just over $1 million, according to tax filings. Mosqueda serves as a professor of family medicine and geriatrics while Zukoski serves as a professor of chemical engineering.