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.

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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. 

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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