Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Those Who Can ... Teach College?

There's an old adage that those who can do. Those who can't teach. Well, apparently those who teach at the college level have found out that they can cash in quite well. It's nice work if you can get it.

Just take a gander at the average salaries for professors. The average salary at my alma mater is more than $157,000. The lowest average salary for a college professor at a SUNY school is $98,000 a year. Not too shabby if you can get the work.

In fact, the overall salary and compensation for university professors is over $125,000 and $150,000 respectively. Public universities on average provide salaries and compensation of more than $116,000 and $147,000 respectively. Overall, the salary and compensation average for professors is $109,000 and $139,000 across all levels of colleges and universities (public, private, and religious-affiliated).

It's little wonder that college tuition costs are through the roof and students are looking at six figure debts unless they can find loan forgiveness or other financial aid packages that limit their debt.

Tuition has long outpaced the rate of inflation, and compensation packages at colleges and universities has fed this - along with guaranteed student loans that were extended to practically anyone with a pulse without regard to the ability to repay. With money flowing into colleges and universities via the student loans acting as nothing more than a subsidy, tuition could be raised and most students wouldn't feel the pinch until they were out of college and looking for jobs.

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