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College professor vs adjunct faculty

The differences between college professors and adjunct faculties can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a college professor, becoming an adjunct faculty takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an adjunct faculty has an average salary of $83,069, which is higher than the $81,207 average annual salary of a college professor.

The top three skills for a college professor include curriculum development, classes taught and mathematics. The most important skills for an adjunct faculty are student learning, syllabus, and philosophy.

College professor vs adjunct faculty overview

College ProfessorAdjunct Faculty
Yearly salary$81,207$83,069
Hourly rate$39.04$39.94
Growth rate12%2%
Number of jobs27,39026,791
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 46%Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age4646
Years of experience24

College professor vs adjunct faculty salary

College professors and adjunct faculties have different pay scales, as shown below.

College ProfessorAdjunct Faculty
Average salary$81,207$83,069
Salary rangeBetween $39,000 And $166,000Between $45,000 And $152,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-California
Best paying company-Hca Hospital Services Of San Diego
Best paying industry-Government

Differences between college professor and adjunct faculty education

There are a few differences between a college professor and an adjunct faculty in terms of educational background:

College ProfessorAdjunct Faculty
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 46%Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common majorBusinessNursing
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

College professor vs adjunct faculty demographics

Here are the differences between college professors' and adjunct faculties' demographics:

College ProfessorAdjunct Faculty
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 50.2% Female, 49.8%Male, 40.9% Female, 59.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.1% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.1% Asian, 11.3% White, 66.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 7.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.3% Asian, 11.2% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage16%16%

Differences between college professor and adjunct faculty duties and responsibilities

College professor example responsibilities.

  • Used blackboard online to manage students tests, grade papers and assign materials.
  • Create and teach lessons about business management, business procedures, economics, finance, and religion
  • Model when creating new course work each semester.
  • Work as a part-time mathematics instructor teaching courses from basic mathematics to pre-calculus in the evening program.
  • Survey literature pertaining to health consequences in the disruption of biological rhythms, with particular emphasis on fatigue.
  • Administer instructional align with the collegiate level syllabus.
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Adjunct faculty example responsibilities.

  • Lead early childhood program initiatives.
  • Provide detail academic instruction for college students in anatomy & physiology, and medical terminology.
  • Prepare lectures, in-class exercises, and collect entirely new course materials to create a personalize syllabus
  • Inform students about course requirements, evaluation procedures, attendance and participation requirements in a course syllabus.
  • Facilitate teaching of online humanities course examining relationship between philosophy and ethics including issues relating to morality.
  • Provide instruction in accounting, economics, federal taxation, management, personnel and small business management.
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College professor vs adjunct faculty skills

Common college professor skills
  • Curriculum Development, 31%
  • Classes Taught, 9%
  • Mathematics, 6%
  • Syllabus, 4%
  • Semester, 4%
  • Anatomy, 3%
Common adjunct faculty skills
  • Student Learning, 11%
  • Syllabus, 8%
  • Philosophy, 7%
  • Professional Development, 6%
  • Course Syllabus, 5%
  • Course Content, 5%

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