Teaching Can Pay Off

Most part-time university professors are paid quite modestly, but that rule does not appear to apply to some Members of Congress who dabble in academia.

The average adjunct faculty member earns anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000 per course, and possibly as much as $10,000 at the graduate level, according to experts in the field, though universities have wide latitude to set salaries for part-timers.

But last year, Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) all made $20,000 or more as adjunct faculty at universities in their home states, with a lighter course load than an ordinary adjunct would have to teach to earn that much.

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(Paul Singer, “Teaching Can Pay Off,” Roll Call, 7/9/08)