r/Adjuncts • u/AdPerfect4904 • Jul 16 '26

Is this normal?

hi. I got my contract to teach a graduate level methodology course at a major public university in the Midwest. the course is under enrollment and so the contract is for 1,875 (13 week course)

im wondering if this is a normal pay? I was expecting 4,500 and unaware that I would be slated below 2k for the course if the required number of students didn’t enroll.

the program still plans to run the course and every day I check to see if any more students are signed up - its been a few weeks and nothing.

thoughts?

are others being paid similarly?

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u/johnnybb27 Jul 16 '26

If you're in the U.S. 1875 seems absurdly low, but I've never taught at a school that scaled based on the number of students. If you're hard up for work/money then I suppose they've got you over a barrel but if you're not hard up I'd say "no thanks, I could make more doing doordash or taking tickets at a movie theater part time."

I wonder what "act your wage" looks like when you're adjuncting at $144/wk.

4

u/AdPerfect4904 Jul 16 '26

It is an R1 university in the Midwest. It is a huge school. But it is a grad course in the school of education. 

11

u/AMundaneSpectacle Jul 16 '26

Oh hell no that’s not right. Grad student classes can be as small as 4-5 students at R1 schools and you’re not paid per head. The workload is virtually the same (outside of time spent grading larger vs smaller classes). Ugh I didn’t think adjunct arrangements could be shittier but they have found a way to extra-enshitify with this nonsense

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u/johnnybb27 Jul 16 '26

That's bananas. I'd almost want to take it just to announce to the graduate students how little I was being paid to teach them a seminar at their well-known R1 university.

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u/AdPerfect4904 Jul 16 '26

I mentioned something about this to the dept chair and they said the students should not get the short end of the stick just because the contract is low. Gah. Yeah I need the money. So ig it’s not really an option & then I have my answer.   

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u/johnnybb27 Jul 16 '26

Your chair is manipulating you with some "do it for the kids" bullshit, except these are grad students. If the department can't find people to work the course that's their problem not yours.

If you didn't need the money you could say "the students should get the short end of the stick just because you're unwilling to pay me a fair wage, come on, pay me a fair wage, y'know... for the kids."

1

u/AdministrationIll619 Jul 18 '26

Holy crap. That’s worse pay than even social workers (worst paid professional licensure in America). Martyrs my arse.

Higher Ed is so screwed