How many courses a prof teaches and why it matters to you (2024)
About the author
Hi there. I am the prolific professor with 15 years of experience teaching online and in-person. I have a graduate degree. I have a passion for education. But I’ve also worked in the professional world (outside of education) too. Thanks for visiting.
How many courses does an adjunct and full-time professor teach?
Adjunct professors are usually capped at three classes per term, while full-time professors at 2-year colleges will teach at least 5 courses per semester. And professors at 4-year universities will teach around 3 classes per term, depending on their rank. Someone who is a lecturer or clinician may teach five classes. But a lot of this depends on the needs of the institution and could vary each term.
So, just how many classes do most university or college professors teach anyway?
You might be wondering this because your professor looks burned out, or you are a professor and wonder if your course load is average compared to others.
Or maybe you are just curious about how a college works.
Either way, I’ve got you covered.
I was a professor and can help explain all this to you and more!
The difference between an adjunct professor and a full-time professor
An adjunct professor is considered part-time and typically only teaches 3 courses each term while full-time professors are housed on campus and participate in college service. Adjunct professors aren’t usually guaranteed a teaching load each term, and are hired based on the current need. While full-time professors are afforded more job security and benefits.
Before we even talk about how many courses a professor teaches, we have to talk about the elephant in the room.
There are different types of college professors teaching on most campuses. Some are part-time and some are full-time.
A full-time professor will be teaching more classes, usually, while a part-time professor is limited in their teaching load due to federal regulations and college policies. I’ll explain more about that a little later.
So, adjuncts may be hired to fill the gaps at institutions because of a college’s needs or they may have some amazing experience and knowledge to bring to the students. But the university doesn’t want too many full-time professors because enrollment each semester isn’t guaranteed.
Regardless, adjuncts aren’t full-time professors, usually don’t have an office and teach fewer classes than professors.
A full-time professor is someone who was hired to work 40 hours a week, has an office on campus, and participates in the services of the college. They’ll usually be doing other non-teaching things like hosting events, attending meetings, planning curriculum or advising students.
In a nutshell, that’s the difference between an adjunct professor and a full-time professor at most colleges.
And most people ask if adjuncts are called professors.
Yes, adjuncts are often called professors. Sometimes they could be called instructors or clinicians, depending on their job title and education.
The difference between tenure and non-track tenure professors
A non-tenure track professor will have less job security than a tenured professor. If a professor is hired in a non-track tenured position, they will have to get appraised and evaluated throughout their career to keep their job, while tenure-track professors will be on a path to have significant job security after they meet that threshold, which could take years to obtain. But once they do, they get many benefits. Most positions at a 4-year university are tenure-track while positions at 2-year community colleges are non-tenure track.
Before you can learn more about the faculty teaching load of each professor, you have to understand that there are different types of institutions and professors at those colleges.
At a 2-year (community college), you are going to have non-tenure track professors. A non-tenure track professor is someone who gets evaluated at regular intervals throughout their career, and doesn’t have the same job security as a tenured professor.
A tenured professor gains that recognition after years of grueling research, teaching, and dedication to the university and gets to have more job security because of their status.
At 4-year institutions (universities), most professors will be tenure-track professors. While they might not have tenure yet, they are on track to get tenure later.
Okay, now that you understand that tenure-track professors will be on the path to more secure positions and non-tenure track positions are focused on regular appraisals and less job security, we can talk about faculty loads.
How many courses does a professor teach?
A professor who is at a 2-year community college will usually need to teach a minimum of 5 classes per semester. I consider a semester a 16-week term. Most professors are not required to teach during the summer.
A professor who is tenure-track at a university would be expected to teach around 3 classes each semester.
A professor who is non-tenure track at 4-year institutions would be expected to teach 4-5 classes per semester. Sometimes these professors might be called clinicians or lecturers.
Even within 4-year universities, you will have varying levels of professors, like professor, associate professor and assistant professor. This just signifies their experience, seniority, and accomplishments. And as professors gain status and experience, they may teach fewer classes.
But you can usually guarantee that a tenure-track or tenured professors will teach 2-3 classes per term. And in addition to the classes that they instruct, they typically serve as a thesis or dissertation advisor. This does result in additional work for the professor, but I wouldn’t really count it as part of their teaching load although the college might give a course release (reduce teaching load).
Adjunct professors are usually limited to three classes per semester at most institutions but aren’t guaranteed to teach any courses since they are offered courses as needed. Adjuncts typically can’t teach more than 3 classes each term because they could be considered full-time based on federal employee definitions. And are even limited to the hours they can work because of retirement policies, and medical coverages. So they are almost always capped at 3, but can sometimes teach 4 short-term.
Don’t forget that this is for long semesters only and professors are often teaching in the summer, winter, (break between fall and spring semesters) and even during the Maymester (break between spring and summer). These course loads will vary based on the college, but one would expect most professors to only teach 2 classes during the summer. Most won’t teach during the winter and Maymester, but if they do, they’ll likely teach only one class.
And finally, keep in mind that a professor’s teaching load may change depending on if they teach graduate courses too. Or serve as a thesis or dissertation chair. They could teach fewer courses if they have other obligations. There is so much variation.
Now you know that course load varies based on the institution, status of the professor, and differs for adjuncts and full-time professors. These aren’t hard rules, but seem pretty common. Course loads can vary based on the college’s needs though. So it could be different each term.
How much do adjunct professors make?
Adjunct professors are going to make around $3,000-$4,000 per three credit hour class. If an adjunct is teaching at a prestigious institution or has some exceptional experience, they could negotiate more.
I looked at a few job openings online for adjunct professors and this seems like a pretty average salary. And from my professional experience in academia, this is totally normal for most colleges.
Keep in mind that some universities may pay more based on the adjunct professor’s experience. And some colleges pay more based on their location. I have also seen additional pay for adjunct professors that have to complete lab instruction for their students too. They can often earn more.
A lot of people will argue that this is entirely too little pay for the work an adjunct does and this can be true. However, a lot of adjuncts do this part-time, in addition to other full-time work.
Before I started working as a full-time professor, I was an adjunct and I was working a full-time job and did teaching on the side. It was great supplemental income but it would be hard to survive on if it were my only job.
I have also seen a lot of adjuncts that will pick up teaching gigs at multiple colleges and they can absolutely make a decent living if they really grind.
How much do college professors make?
As a professor, I would say that the median salary for a professor is around $80,000 and the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics also found the same results. A professor’s salary will entirely depend on their experience, rank, and the institution they work at.
This estimate was based on my experience in this career field.
If a professor works at a community college, their salary may be much lower than an Ivy League university professor.
Something else that impacts a professor’s salary is the rank/tenure of the professor. And if they teach at a university of community college. Typically professors that teach at a community college will make less than those teaching at a four-year university.
And college professors can increase their annual salary by teaching extra courses during the year OR they can take on extra service assignments. Other professors may have a textbook that they published and they will earn a royalty on that publication.
When I was in graduate school, I remember my professor telling us that you could easily double your salary by doing additional duties like teaching summer courses or through the textbooks you write, depending on the royalty you receive.
What is the full load of a professor?
A full load for a professor is going to depend on their rank and position. If a professor is an adjunct, they might be able to teach FOUR classes. A tenured professor will likely teach 2-3 classes per semester and someone who works at a community college or is on a non-tenure track will teach five.
If a professor teaches non-traditional courses like weekend classes or accelerated courses, they may teach fewer courses per term.
But professors almost always teach more than one class. However, some professors may teach multiple sections of the same course, if they teach a very common subject. Other times, some professors teach multiple courses within their field.
For example, a professor in the English department may teach the same exact course five times each semester while an engineering professor in another field may teach five different courses within engineering.
Another unique thing about being a professor is that you can oftentimes substitute a course with some other duty. Let’s say a professor is the lead of their department. The college may allow them to reduce their course load in exchange for that service. So, it’s always possible that a full load for one professor may not be the same for another because of their circumstances.
As you can see there are so many variables that are going to impact a professor’s course load and their pay! It can be complicated but I know that I helped provide a solid explanation.
OTHER POSTS YOU’LL LOVE
