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Job outlook for adjunct faculty members in the United States
Adjunct faculty member job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected adjunct faculty member job growth rate is 12% from 2018-2028.
About 159,400 new jobs for adjunct faculty members are projected over the next decade.
Adjunct faculty member salaries have increased 0% for adjunct faculty members in the last 5 years.
There are over 251,096 adjunct faculty members currently employed in the United States.
There are 28,981 active adjunct faculty member job openings in the US.
The average adjunct faculty member salary is $60,817.
Are adjunct faculty member jobs in demand?
Adjunct faculty member job and salary trends over time
Adjunct faculty member jobs over time
Adjunct faculty member job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 251,096 | 0.07% |
| 2020 | 253,591 | 0.08% |
| 2019 | 260,469 | 0.08% |
| 2018 | 249,463 | 0.08% |
| 2017 | 250,770 | 0.08% |
Average adjunct faculty member salary over time
Adjunct faculty member salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $60,817 | $29.24 | +1.8% |
| 2025 | $59,730 | $28.72 | --0.1% |
| 2024 | $59,761 | $28.73 | --0.5% |
| 2023 | $60,068 | $28.88 | --1.5% |
| 2022 | $60,982 | $29.32 | +9.4% |
Adjunct faculty member jobs by state
Most common states for adjunct faculty members
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 251 | 36% |
| 2 | Alaska | 739,795 | 167 | 23% |
| 3 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 886 | 21% |
| 4 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 125 | 17% |
| 5 | Vermont | 623,657 | 108 | 17% |
| 6 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 205 | 15% |
| 7 | Delaware | 961,939 | 149 | 15% |
| 8 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 987 | 13% |
| 9 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,037 | 12% |
| 10 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 101 | 12% |
| 11 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 115 | 11% |
| 12 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 587 | 10% |
| 13 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 127 | 10% |
| 14 | South Carolina | 5,024,369 | 384 | 8% |
| 15 | Kentucky | 4,454,189 | 355 | 8% |
| 16 | New York | 19,849,399 | 1,392 | 7% |
| 17 | Indiana | 6,666,818 | 463 | 7% |
| 18 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 206 | 7% |
| 19 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 579 | 6% |
| 20 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 363 | 6% |
Adjunct Faculty Member job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of adjunct faculty member experts
Tiffin University
College of the Marshall Islands
Skidmore College
AGWA - American Grant Writers' Association, Inc.
The University of North Carolina Greensboro
Misericordia University
Seattle University
Elmira College
Dr. Stephanie Opfer
Associate Professor of English, Assistant Dean of the School of Creative and Media ArtsTiffin University
Visual And Performing Arts
What general advice would you give to an Adjunct Faculty Member?
Dr. Stephanie Opfer: Because of the state of higher education in our country today, teaching in higher education can be a difficult field to break into. However, most colleges and universities still hire adjunct instructors (part-time instructors). Students shouldn't be afraid to teach as an adjunct for a while to get some experience and decide if teaching is for them.
What will help Adjunct Faculty Members increase their earning potential?
Dr. Stephanie Opfer: Unfortunately, teaching as an adjunct does not pay well. Students should keep their full-time jobs and teach part-time until they find a full-time job at a college or university. That part-time teaching provides them valuable experience and connections that make them more competitive candidates for full-time positions because they'd also be competing with candidates who have PhDs. So adjunct work is more of a long-term investment rather than an immediate return. Also, even full-time teaching jobs don't pay particularly well, so they'll really need to love teaching if they want to do it full-time. If they don't like teaching as an adjunct, they won't like doing it full-time.
Jane Kuandre
Associate ProfessorWhat general advice would you give to an Adjunct Faculty Member?
Jane Kuandre: My advice for someone looking to pursue a career in academia would be to focus on building a strong publication record, developing a network of collaborators, and continuously seeking opportunities for professional development.
What Adjunct Faculty Member skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Alexander Velasquez: I think that in the next three to five years the most important skills to have—and I mean this—will be critical thinking and imagination. This may sound a bit outlandish, and maybe even a bit naive, but hear me out: Artificial intelligence is making strides to the point where papers are writing themselves with simple instructions, videos are generating themselves with simple instructions, and software is beginning to write itself; and all this has been happening within the last few years. We may begin to see that in the next three to five years, once coveted programming jobs could become automated. Now, what I'm *not* saying is don't go to school for computer programming; but what I *am* saying is that the nature of work and employment *is* changing. For example, if you and and AI are making a video, and both of you have the same script, same voiceover, and so on, the only thing separating your final product from the AI's is the way you *think and imagine*, the perspective that you have as someone who can think critically about the information and lay it out in a visually appealing manner. AI can't do that—at least not yet—because it simply spits out the information it's given. But critical thought, metalevel thinking about information, is what will be one of the most important assets to have in the coming three to five years.
Aurelie Matheron
Assistant Professor of FrenchSkidmore College
Romance Languages, Literatures, And Linguistics
What Adjunct Faculty Member skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Aurelie Matheron: Leadership: you will be in positions of leading a program/department. Learn from current chairs by observing their own skills during meetings and moments of decision. Collaboration: develop interpersonal and interprofessional relationships that will allow you to build collaborative projects (interdepartmental courses, for instance).
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Adjunct Faculty Members in the next 3-5 years?
John Porter Ph.D.: There is not a lot of technology required in grant writing. The most critical and prevalent skill in grant writing, which is lacking, is appropriately writing. Over the past decade, there has been an increase in abbreviation and slang. When put into a standard text, these expressions can become confusing.
The technology is that younger, individual writers may like to stay up on the most recent software and communication methods. Whereas funders, private, corporate, and government, tend not to keep up as fast and have older software versions. This means that the newest and glitziest software may not be compatible with the funder's software when submitting grant proposals and applications.
April Dawkins Ph.D.
Assistant ProfessorThe University of North Carolina Greensboro
Library & Information Science Department
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Adjunct Faculty Members in the next 3-5 years?
April Dawkins Ph.D.: Technology in schools is rapidly changing. Many schools have been transitioning to a one-to-one device environment in the last decade (the pandemic has put a rush on this for some districts who have been late to adopt this model). School librarians have played a significant role in the early adoption of technology and providing classroom teachers training in its practical use. In the current pandemic, school librarians have helped parents and students access technology for learning, such as online classrooms, ebooks and audiobooks, and other digital learning tools. School librarians are also powerful advocates for equity of access for all students by ensuring students have access to devices, stable broadband and the internet, and digital resources for learning and reading. While school librarians can advocate for these things, it will require a significant commitment at local, state, and national levels to ensure that ALL students truly have equity of access.
For the future, I see a growing need for school librarians to be knowledgeable about technology tools that have excellent accessibility features and promote individualized learning. We live in a world where students need to create new content and explore new ideas. Therefore, school librarians need to be well-versed in audio and video creation tools, and know the potential for augmented and virtual reality as learning tools.
David Hage
Assistant Professor, Field DirectorMisericordia University
Department of Social Work
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Adjunct Faculty Members in the next 3-5 years?
David Hage: I have seen many social service agencies behind technological trends in the past begin to catch up as they figure out how to deliver quality services in a post-COIVD world. Examples of technologies that will likely grow might include telehealth and online meeting platforms, for example.
In-home based services, offered via technology, are not the end-all-be-all solution, but they will be an essential tool to continue to provide services while practicing appropriate social distancing protocols rapidly.The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB), Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), and the Clinical Social Work Association (CSWA) have wisely developed a set of standards for technology in social work practice which can help when implementing technology in the field.
Online documentation systems and electronic medical (EMR) or health record systems (EHR) will also likely increase in use as agencies need to make employee documentation more accessible from various locations. Mobile app-based supports may increase in use among social workers, and social service web-based resources and social service directories will be likely to increase in use among social service consumers, in addition to new novel technology solutions as well.
Alexander Mouton
Chair, Associate ProfessorSeattle University
Department of Art, Art History & Design
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Adjunct Faculty Members?
Alexander Mouton: It is hard to tell how the coronavirus pandemic will affect graduates. Some I know are joining the workforce or doing creative work, which is a good sign. How this will play out will be interesting to see, though it's a little hard for me to judge from the classroom!
What general advice would you give to an Adjunct Faculty Member?
Rebecca Sarver: Listen more than you talk. There is so much to be learned from clients, seasoned human service workers, and the community that you work within. By listening and observing versus always feeling compelled to speak, you will learn job skills, people skills, and your clients' needs.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Adjunct Faculty Members in the next 3-5 years?
Rebecca Sarver: The use of remote and virtual meetings will continue even after COVID-19. Face to face meetings may still be the preferred method of contact, but the reality is that many clients who need to access services do not have reliable and consistent transportation to get to the services. Phones and computers enable more convenient meetings that are less costly in terms of time and travel. Some clients may prefer not to leave their homes.