How Much Do Professors Make?

Faculty salary data for 2007-2008:

The American Association of University Professors today released Where Are the Priorities? The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2007–08. Here are some highlights from the press release:

• Overall average salaries for full-time faculty rose 3.8% this year, the same as the increase reported last year. But with inflation at 4.1% percent for the year, the purchasing power of faculty salaries has declined for the third time in four years.
• The salaries paid to head football coaches at Division I-A universities are ten times as high as the salaries of senior professors.
• The gap between faculty salaries and salaries paid to administrators continues to grow.

Here are the 2007-08 average salaries for three faculty ranks:

• Full professor $103,521
• Associate professor $73,275
• Assistant professor $61,359

Press and blogopshere coverage:

• Chronicle of Higher Education: Gap Persists Between Faculty Salaries at Public and Private Institutions, by Richard Byrne
• Inside Higher Ed: Faculty Salaries and Priorities, by Scott Jaschik

Not too bad, but for the amount of time, education, and effort involved, there are much better paths to take if your goal is to make money. If want to get the best bang for your buck from education, I still think engineering and/or an MBA is probably the best way to go. (If engineering isn't your thing, economics can also be an excellent choice for an undergraduate major.) Law can be very lucrative if you can get into a top tier program, but beware of the debt and don't overestimate how much you might make.