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The American Association of University Professors recently released a report on the financial situation of professors. One interesting datum apparently gleaned from the report is a ranking of universities by full professor salaries.
I have heard it said that Harvard pays below market because it pays in prestige, but that doesn't jive with its industry-leading $192,600/year (keep in mind this is average for full professor, which is rarely achieved before one's 40s at best).
One interesting fact noted shown in figure 2 of the report itself is that while, yes, PhDs do earn less than professional degrees (law, business, medicine, etc.), the difference is, on average, not nearly so large as one might expect. In 2007, the average PhD made around $95,000, while the average professional school graduate earned about $115,000 (both numbers are down, incidentally, from 1997).
That said, the ceilings are probably different. The average full professor at Harvard -- arguably the pinnacle of the profession for someone with a PhD -- as already said makes just under $200,000/year...or about the same as the typical big-firm lawyer a couple years out of law school (though perhaps not this year).
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Comments
But how many professors teach at Harvard?
April 16, 2009 by Anonymous, 29 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 36188
I am an Associate Professor at a community college in a large urban area where the cost of living is quite high. I earn $68,000 dollars and am not likely to have many adjustments upwards for several years. I love to teach and work with students who are attempting to make improvements to their own careers. The work is very rewarding but many of my students will leave my school and earn more money than I do in only two or three years. For every well paid university professor, there are many more who work diligently for much less.
the report includes averages as well
April 16, 2009 by coglanglab, 29 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 36189
Hi Anonymous,
Teaching at a community college is certainly not lucrative! But, then, many professional school graduates (lawyers, doctors & MBAs) also make $68,000 a year. That's part of what I found interesting about these data: the "cost" of getting a PhD is not nearly so high as you might suspect simply by looking at the top earners.