Perception of the hourly pay for an online adjunct?

What is your perception of the hourly pay for an online adjunct? How much, on average would one make per hour? I have heard it said that, when you match the hours invested against the amount earned, many adjuncts do not make that much per hour. I was interested in hearing the experiences, perceptions or opinions of members on this subject.

Disclaimers:
I have no intention of becoming an online adjunct.
I know that there is no concrete answer for this question because the amount an individual could make would vary a great deal depending on class load and the school.


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See my PM - prefer not to disclose publically.

 

Someone posted a link a month or so ago that had the data on national averages. I can't recall if it was hourly or per class. Teaching 1 section isn't going to support anyone, I don't care who you are. My CC pay was about $1500 per section based on a 16 week semester, 3 credits. Of course, that's gross pay, not net. Some semesters, my 3 hour lecture was just about all I had to do since I'd taught that course for about 10 years and could do it in my sleep. Other weeks, things would be updated and there would be homework, etc. And I might need to allocate another 3-4 hours. It varied. I don't have a problem sharing, it's public record if you teach for a public college.

The thing that I LIKE about adjunct work, is that I can take on as little or as many hours as I want. If I'd have a baby, it would be 1 section. If I needed a new soft, it might be 3 that semester.

 

The adjunct career can pay well if you teach the same class or subject for many institutions as this cuts down your preparation time.
The adjunct pay also varies substantially among institutions. The lowest pay is at some of the online for profits that pay as little as $1,000 dlls per course but you also have executives MBAs that pay as high as $15K per course.

The adjunct career makes sense in you teach in a specialized subject (e.g. real estate finance) for executive MBAs or high profile business schools.

I know some people that make a living teaching at online institutions but you should not expect more than 60 to 70K working full time 40 to 50 hrs a week. This salary is not that high considering that you have to pay for your own insurance, office, etc. The job security is low and the prospects of increasing your income are low unless you want to go into management by pursuing careers such as faculty manager, course manager, etc. Some online schools gives stipends of 30 to 40K if you become a faculty manager, trainer, etc so this gives opportunities of higher income to full time online adjuncts.

If an adjunct career was the way I wanted to go, I would try to teach at business schools of high profile and secure at least 60 to 70K for these classes (about 5 MBA classes) and then fill the gaps with online teaching at some of the better online for profits (e.g Walden, Capella, etc) so I could make 100K without killing myself.

This is easier said than done, getting a shot at high profile business schools means that you need to get credentials from top schools too and certifications on top of your degree with high demand such as CFA, CPA, etc.

 

Yes, we would prefer if you did not disclose publicly too. I think it's illegal in some states. :smile:

 

I think what Randall means is that some schools do not appreciate that their salaries are posted in a public site. This gives the opportunity to the general public to mock them in a public site and gives bad rep to some of the schools that pay very little to adjuncts.

Imagine how a student would feel if he or she is paying 50K for an online doctorate just to find out that his or her doctoral supervisor is making 3K per dissertation.

Many students would be shocked to find out that they are paying a fortune for their studies but adjuncts working for the school get paid peanuts, others might find discouraging to hear that their doctorate would only lead to a job that pays $1500 per course.

I am sure that degreeinfo gets a lot if heat from sponsors when these discussions come into place.

 

I don't mind sharing. Without disclosing employers I can't say that I think its a big deal.

I have been a "full-time" online adjunct since November 2011. I have done a few speaking engagements and some consulting and counseling - but not much. The reason for doing this was to work on my dissertation. Did that work? Maybe. It helped, but I'm still not finished. We had a child pass away in February 2012 and a baby born in January 2013 so the delays were primarily family related.

Anyway, during 2012, I facilitated 34 courses for 7 different schools (27 of those were from 2 schools). I grossed $42,300 for those courses. I would say that I worked 4 hours a day.

Do I want to do "this" forever? Nope. Was it amazing for the last 18 months? Yup. Do I anticipate doing it for another 18 months (even long after my dissertation is done)? Maybe. Would I want "this" career? Nope.

So, hourly I guess that works out to likely $25 - $30 an hour. No insurance. No retirement. No paid vacation.

 

Oh, have I ever told students that? No, not directly. I have (more than once but less than five times) had a student berate me for lack of interaction (which I'll note is crazy since most students tell me that I provide way more interaction that most). In several of those times I have informed the student that online faculty are reimbursed at a rate sometimes as low as $10 per student per week.

For example: UOP: $1,440 per 9 weeks of 20 students = $8 per student per week.

 

In California the adjunct pay rates are public for Community Colleges and possibly other state schools:
Salary Schedules

 

Yes, it was a joke and probably the dumbest joke I have made in a long time. This is evidenced by the fact that nobody got it. Guess I'll keep my day job.


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I make between 1,600 per class (5.5 weeks/4- students) to 1,925 per class (12 weeks/20+ students) to 2,500 per class (11 weeks / 15-20 students). As far as hourly, I have not tracked it perfectly but I do well since I teach the same classes and know the assignments well.