Members seraphim7s Posted March 18, 2008 Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 I'm starting an MA in Sept, and hopefully a PhD / MPhil after that ... unfortunately lecturing / teaching / researching in a degree conferring institution in the UK doesn't really pay that well when you consider how much work and money goes into over eight years of university education. So ... I was wondering ... how much might I expect to get paid (for an arts subject, no less:rolleyes:) as a university lecturer in the US? Or Canada perchance? Just doin' a little research here ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted March 18, 2008 Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 $80,000 at a community college which is probably a good place to start. Some teachers work part time at first, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seraphim7s Posted March 18, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 Forgive me for my ignorance, but isn't a community college a place where one earns an associate's (rather than a bachelor's) degree? ... the equivalent here would be a certificate or diploma which you'd get at an adult education centre rather than a university. If the US is anything like the UK then most places like that usually do vocational rather than academic courses? Is that true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted March 18, 2008 Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 Forgive me for my ignorance, but isn't a community college a place where one earns an associate's (rather than a bachelor's) degree? ... the equivalent here would be a certificate or diploma which you'd get at an adult education centre rather than a university.If the US is anything like the UK then most places like that usually do vocational rather than academic courses? Is that true? Right a community college is a 2 year college where you get an associates degree. Most students go on the regular 4 year colleges from there. Community colleges would be easier to get into I'm sure. After that and you're published you could get a job at a bigger school. All this is just common sense and from talking with people, not from personal experience. I know a guy who teaches piano at a local community college and I knew some at BGSU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rob Martinez Posted March 18, 2008 Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 I think $80,000 per year may be a bit generous, and actually FINDING a job teaching the arts in a college will be a challenge as well. Then, it may be in Peoria or Lincoln, not LA or New York City. Starting pay may be closer to $40,000 a year, but I may be wrong. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members #6 Posted March 18, 2008 Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 Really depends on your subject. 80 may be right for sciences. Humanities, forget it. A prof at the university where I attended grad school in History, who had been there for years, was making about 30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seraphim7s Posted March 18, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 Would you really need a doctorate to teach at a community college? Surely you'd only need a BA or MA? It wouldn't be a wise financial investment in the States to study for a PhD only to earn $40k a year. Apparently I could expect pay of about $55-90k (depending on institution) as a university lecturer in the UK, so it would have to be more than that to tempt me across the ocean! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seraphim7s Posted March 18, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 Really depends on your subject. 80 may be right for sciences. Humanities, forget it. A prof at the university where I attended grad school in History, who had been there for years, was making about 30. Argh. That's pretty pathetic. You could earn more than that here if you left school at 16. I can imagine in the US that there is a massive divergence between those teaching medicine/law/economics/business etc .... and those teaching humanities/arts in terms of pay. Bear in mind that my BA is in Classics (Latin & Greek) and MA is in Medieval Studies and I think I can put myself at the bottom of the scale! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted March 18, 2008 Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 I'm not sure where that fugure came from but in the 1970's they were giving starting profs $35,000 per year at 4 year schools. Part time community college teachers can have only a masters to teach. Lots of people get a teaching position at a community college and then shoot for their PHD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boseengineer Posted March 18, 2008 Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 Money seems like the wrong criteria to make this decision. I've taught in Germany and the US and the educational systems are quite different. Maybe a better way to go about it would be to educate yourself about the differences in the systems and find out which one is better suited for what you want to do with your life. You can then work the money angle next.In many American schools (at least the private ones), the base salary is only considered part of your overall compensation. You can do research and also work for grants/contracts/consulting. In many areas its considered to be good practice to have a solid grounding in the real world (i.e. outside of school). It's certainly easier to teach your students relevant skills, when you don't real personal experience how these skills are apllied in whatever job you are teaching for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members #6 Posted March 18, 2008 Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 Argh. That's pretty pathetic. You could earn more than that here if you left school at 16. I can imagine in the US that there is a massive divergence between those teaching medicine/law/economics/business etc .... and those teaching humanities/arts in terms of pay.Bear in mind that my BA is in Classics (Latin & Greek) and MA is in Medieval Studies and I think I can put myself at the bottom of the scale! or even lower...except maybe at a seminary... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members #6 Posted March 18, 2008 Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 the thing is that there are 10's of thousands of unemplyed phds in the humanities here...so the labor pool is so large that the value of the skills is low... one university providing history phds would be sufficient to meet us demand for them...but there are over 800 programs issuing the degree eevery year... similar thoroughout the humanities... and at the same time, universities are cutting positions in the humanities...the dept where i was once had 38 full times profs...now 11...and not some podunk school... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NeonVomit Posted March 18, 2008 Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 Argh. That's pretty pathetic. You could earn more than that here if you left school at 16. Cost of living is higher in UK though as well. Especially in London but I imagine most big cities are similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seraphim7s Posted March 18, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 Hmmm. It's clear that I need to do more research on American institutions. At this point it appears that my prospects are much greater in the UK. Most of the better non-technical universities (top 40/50) here have dedicated medieval centres for the study of medieval languages, literature and culture. It is, after all, an era that has more resonance for someone in the British Isles than someone in the US. Isn't King Kashue a medievalist? He may be able to elucidate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sulr Posted March 18, 2008 Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 If you expect to make 80,000$ as a college prof. in your first years, you better be one of the best damn people in your field of study. My friends uncle who teaches at drexel didn't begin making a generous amount of money til after a ten year period(he teaches at Drexel U.). If you are going to be a teacher in one of the many school districts in the U.S., expect to make around 80,000 dollars in one of the best school districts after several years of work(Philadelphia School district pays PHD teachers a little over 80k after 2 or 3 years I believe and our school district is horrible). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seraphim7s Posted March 18, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 Cost of living is higher in UK though as well. Especially in London but I imagine most big cities are similar. Whilst that is true, I cannot imagine living anywhere in the US where the cost of living is especially low. It would probably somewhere near the coasts (New England, Atlantic states, California, Pacific NW) and as far as I know, the cost of living is quite high there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NeonVomit Posted March 18, 2008 Members Share Posted March 18, 2008 Whilst that is true, I cannot imagine living anywhere in the US where the cost of living is especially low. It would probably somewhere near the coasts (New England, Atlantic states, California, Pacific NW) and as far as I know, the cost of living is quite high there. Never mind that. Go to America. Buy guns. Volunteer to patrol the borders and shoot Mexicans. Consume 2000 calories a day. Marry your sister, move to Texas. And know oblivion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seraphim7s Posted March 19, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 19, 2008 bumpus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thunderbroom Posted March 19, 2008 Members Share Posted March 19, 2008 $80,000 at a community college which is probably a good place to start. Some teachers work part time at first, too. I work at a two-year school. We RARELY hire someone with just a BS/BA. A starting teacher with no experience starts at $37,773. The same person with an MS/MA/MSEd earns $40,417. Got a PhD? $48,003. There are 17 steps to the top of the scale. How well you negotiate determines where you are placed on the salary schedule. Someone with only a BS/BA stops getting raises after 13 steps and gets capped at $58,776. A person at the top of the payscale with a MA/MS/MSEd earns $78,549. The same person with a PhD earns $93,291. I'm applying for an EdD program currently. If accepted, and upon completion of the program in 3.5 years, my salary will be $102,457. At this point though, I will likely leave teaching and move into adminstration for as much or more $$$. Keep in mind that these are base salaries. Teaching additional classes will earn you extra money each year. I earned ~$8,000 extra last year teaching extra classes and did not work over the Summer. I also have a consulting business on top of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jasper383 Posted March 19, 2008 Members Share Posted March 19, 2008 If you expect to make 80,000$ as a college prof. in your first years, you better be one of the best damn people in your field of study. My friends uncle who teaches at drexel didn't begin making a generous amount of money til after a ten year period(he teaches at Drexel U.).If you are going to be a teacher in one of the many school districts in the U.S., expect to make around 80,000 dollars in one of the best school districts after several years of work(Philadelphia School district pays PHD teachers a little over 80k after 2 or 3 years I believe and our school district is horrible). Salary will depend on the field as well. Accounting professors will nearly always earn more than comp lit professors because to a certain extent the university needs to compete with the private sector for those employees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jasper383 Posted March 19, 2008 Members Share Posted March 19, 2008 the thing is that there are 10's of thousands of unemplyed phds in the humanities here...so the labor pool is so large that the value of the skills is low...one university providing history phds would be sufficient to meet us demand for them...but there are over 800 programs issuing the degree eevery year...similar thoroughout the humanities...and at the same time, universities are cutting positions in the humanities...the dept where i was once had 38 full times profs...now 11...and not some podunk school... This is a very good point. It seems irresponsible to pump out PhDs year after year with so little demand. How many really good university jobs come up in history in the US each year? Maybe 25? The Boston area alone produces that many History Phds each year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thunderbroom Posted March 19, 2008 Members Share Posted March 19, 2008 Salary will depend on the field as well. Accounting professors will nearly always earn more than comp lit professors because to a certain extent the university needs to compete with the private sector for those employees. I think that depends on the type and caliber of school. Speaking of community colleges only, as that is where I hang my hat, there is no pay difference between someone teaching accounting, art history, english or auto shop with similar education and experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted March 19, 2008 Members Share Posted March 19, 2008 Never mind that. Go to America. Buy guns. Volunteer to patrol the borders and shoot Mexicans. Consume 2000 calories a day. Marry your sister, move to Texas.And know oblivion. Is lug sellin' his house or somethin'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted March 19, 2008 Members Share Posted March 19, 2008 I work at a two-year school. We RARELY hire someone with just a BS/BA. A starting teacher with no experience starts at $37,773. The same person with an MS/MA/MSEd earns $40,417. Got a PhD? $48,003. There are 17 steps to the top of the scale. How well you negotiate determines where you are placed on the salary schedule. Someone with only a BS/BA stops getting raises after 13 steps and gets capped at $58,776. A person at the top of the payscale with a MA/MS/MSEd earns $78,549. The same person with a PhD earns $93,291. I'm applying for an EdD program currently. If accepted, and upon completion of the program in 3.5 years, my salary will be $102,457. At this point though, I will likely leave teaching and move into adminstration for as much or more $$$. Keep in mind that these are base salaries. Teaching additional classes will earn you extra money each year. I earned ~$8,000 extra last year teaching extra classes and did not work over the Summer. I also have a consulting business on top of this. So my advise to anyone who will listen is to do what I did. Quit college with two weeks till graduation, bum around and land a job at a wastewater plant making more than a PHD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thunderbroom Posted March 19, 2008 Members Share Posted March 19, 2008 So my advise to anyone who will listen is to do what I did. Quit college with two weeks till graduation, bum around and land a job at a wastewater plant making more than a PHD. $48k PhD or $102k PhD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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