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Job outlook for composition professors in the United States
Are composition professor jobs in demand?
Composition professor job and salary trends over time
Composition professor jobs over time
Composition professor job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 59 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 62 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 62 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 63 | 0.00% |
Average composition professor salary over time
Composition professor salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $72,443 | $34.83 | +0.7% |
| 2024 | $71,907 | $34.57 | +2.9% |
| 2023 | $69,913 | $33.61 | +2.6% |
| 2022 | $68,149 | $32.76 | +1.9% |
| 2021 | $66,910 | $32.17 | +2.8% |
Composition professor jobs by state
Most common states for composition professors
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 76 | 11% |
| 2 | Vermont | 623,657 | 57 | 9% |
| 3 | West Virginia | 1,815,857 | 104 | 6% |
| 4 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 394 | 5% |
| 5 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 290 | 5% |
| 6 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 214 | 5% |
| 7 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 142 | 5% |
| 8 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 46 | 5% |
| 9 | New York | 19,849,399 | 786 | 4% |
| 10 | Kentucky | 4,454,189 | 171 | 4% |
| 11 | Mississippi | 2,984,100 | 118 | 4% |
| 12 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 86 | 4% |
| 13 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 38 | 4% |
| 14 | Alaska | 739,795 | 31 | 4% |
| 15 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 423 | 3% |
| 16 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 252 | 3% |
| 17 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 174 | 3% |
| 18 | Louisiana | 4,684,333 | 141 | 3% |
| 19 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 41 | 3% |
| 20 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 27 | 3% |
Composition Professor job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of composition professor experts
University of Oregon
Kean University
North Carolina State University
University of Arizona
Skidmore College
California University of Pennsylvania
What will help Composition Professors increase their earning potential?
Alex Holte PhD: When you are starting out at any career, it is important to negotiate your salary. Many candidates feel that they have to accept their first offer, but in reality, at many jobs, there is some room for negotiation. Be mindful however, to not request a salary that is much higher than what is being offered as they may feel like a compromise would not be possible and move on to the next candidate.
Mary Wood
Professor of EnglishUniversity of Oregon
English Language And Literature
What general advice would you give to a Composition Professor?
Mary Wood: It depends on what level the teacher is at (college level or K-12 and if K-12 do you mean elementary, middle, or high school), whether they're in public or private education, etc. Those who wish to become K-12 English teachers would take some literature classes in our department but would do most of their teacher training in the School of Education.
What Composition Professor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Mary Wood: It's a great time to become an English teacher because it's more important than ever for students to be savvy about how language works, given the ways that language is being manipulated in media (including social media) as well as in the explosion of AI applications. It's also a good time to remind students of the human values and age-old questions about life that are found in novels, plays, poetry, and short stories.
What will help Composition Professors increase their earning potential?
Mary Wood: Dislike: Administrative meetings, Grading papers, Bureaucratic paperwork, Lack of robust funding for research and teaching. Like: Working with students, Talking, writing, and reading about literature and getting paid for it, My co-workers and their commitment to their students, Having flexibility in my workday (available to college teachers, not K-12)
What general advice would you give to a Composition Professor?
Dr. Lisa Sisler D.Litt, MFA: Regardless of the level the educator is at (high school/ college), most of the day is spent in the classroom teaching. There is prep for each class: lesson planning, reading, researching. Then there is the grading of papers. We also spend a lot of time mentoring and advising students, working one-on-one with students to help them achieve both class goals and their personal goals.
What general advice would you give to a Composition Professor?
Dr. Dennis Wise Professor Practice: It's an extremely challenging moment to be entering the profession. Since 2008, state legislatures have been cutting back funding for higher education, and that has hurt English Departments because courses that require writing instruction (as our do) can't be run at ultra-large, 200-students a class levels. That has limited the willingness of administrations to hire tenure-track faculty, and has contributed to a proliferation of contingent (or year-to-year) labor. In addition, graduate programs across the country tend to significantly over-produce doctoral students, graduating far more each year than the job market can handle. All this goes to make the job prospects of anyone fresh out of graduate school relatively bleak. Many are forced into adjuncting, more and more of the former professoriate are becoming adjuncts.
Aurelie Matheron
Assistant Professor of FrenchSkidmore College
Romance Languages, Literatures, And Linguistics
What will help Composition Professors increase their earning potential?
Aurelie Matheron: Do some research online about how much someone earns at your stage of the career. If there is a significant gap, point out (diplomatically) that, because of your extensive experience in XYZ, you would like to get a X% increase in your salary. Be reasonable: if you want a 3% increase, ask for 5% (not 10% or more). Justify your negotiation: why should they pay me more? What experience can I show them to justify my request? If you have a higher offer from another place, you can say that “I have received another generous offer and would like to know about the possibility for matching that offer.” Salary is not the only thing you can negotiate: office space, computer/laptop, sabbaticals, course release, etc. Again, be reasonable: if you think you are entitled to XYZ requests, you also have to show why.
What type of skills will young Composition Professors need?
Dr. Christina Fisanick: College graduates in 2021 and beyond need all of the skills that English programs have to offer: critical thinking, effective communication, creativity, and flexibility. New hires need to be able to adapt to workplace changes quickly and with aplomb, which requires critical thinking and problem solving and the ability to communicate those solutions to a diverse audience clearly and effectively. Those skills are refined and practiced regularly in English programs.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Composition Professors to find work opportunities?
Dr. Christina Fisanick: Although employers prior to COVID-19 knew that remote work was not only possible, but in some cases even more productive than in the traditional workplace, the pandemic has reinforced the idea that employees can work from anywhere in the world. While this gives graduates the potential to work globally in a way that was never possible before, it also means that English majors in the US are now competing in a worldwide marketplace against graduates from universities not just in their region or country, but from around the globe. It is both exciting and intimidating, and we must prepare our graduates to meet the demands of this ever-expanding job market.
How do you envision technology impacting Composition Professors in the next 5 years?
Dr. Christina Fisanick: Given that English majors are placed in a broad range of fields after graduation, it is difficult to identify which specific technologies will be used most, which is why critical thinking and adaptability are key skills. I can imagine that editing and word processing software will remain in heavy use by our graduates in the workplace, along with social media and other communication applications. Exposing students to the many possibilities of how technology changes the production and consumption of texts is vital to what English programs do best.