Anonymous wrote:Maybe in Michigan it's possible to have a nice life as a professor, but it's harder here. When I was living in My first "just out of college" apartment in Arlington my next door neighbors were two professors with two kids living in a shitty two bedroom. It was not a fancy apartment. My friends in the area who are currently professors either live in way far out suburbs and complain constantly about $$ or have family money to float them.

The "nice life" professor belongs in TV myth, along with the rich Brady bunch architect.

You are all completely missing the point. Whether or not a professor has a nice life "by our standards," it clearly gave this kid something to aspire to.

Maybe in Michigan it's possible to have a nice life as a professor, but it's harder here. When I was living in My first "just out of college" apartment in Arlington my next door neighbors were two professors with two kids living in a shitty two bedroom. It was not a fancy apartment. My friends in the area who are currently professors either live in way far out suburbs and complain constantly about $$ or have family money to float them.

The "nice life" professor belongs in TV myth, along with the rich Brady bunch architect.

Anonymous wrote:I think it's funny that you all read the essay and picture a fancy home. Through the eyes of a teenager accustomed to working class life, a home most of us would consider quite modest appears sprawling and luxurious. When I go back home to visit and see some of the homes of the "rich girls" I went to school with now as an adult, they are not how I remembered them. It's all a matter of perspective.

k

+1000

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What professors live like that?

This is your takeway? Lol

Law, med, and business school professors can do really well: easily 200k +, not to mention consulting fees, royalties from textbooks or other books, speaking fees, etc. Also, sometimes professors can nice perks like free housing (in really nice historic buildings) if they are deans or have endowed chairs, etc.

Plus they get a ton of time off. And obviously there are colleges and universities everywhere, including LCOL areas.

I knew a university professor, and in addition to a $175,000 salary, he also was an expert witness in his field at very high day rates and a speaker at conferences. Easily made $250,000 total. His wife was a high school teacher, so I'm guessing their combined income was way over $300,000. Kids were grown. They spent every summer on six-week trips through Europe, month-long cruises throughout the Mediterranean, whatever.

Anonymous wrote:If you're a tenured professor at a large, research university and have an endowed chair, you can definitely make enough money to afford the lifestyle the first essay writer described. Take the University of Michigan, for example (just because the salaries are public): a particular tenured professor in the Political Science Department makes $175,000. If both are tenured professors (unusual, but not impossible), you could conceivably be talking about $300,000 household income. Add speaking fees on top of that and, especially if they're living in a small college town (like Ann Arbor), they could definitely have a house like that.

PP here. I looked up professor salaries writ large at Michigan. Some business school professors are making north of $400,000. Even the assistant professor in the business school are making $150,000. Those guys and gals are also doing consulting work, so add that income and you've got some pretty rich profs.

http://www.umsalary.info/deptsearch.php?Dept=Ross+School+of+Business&Year=0&Campus=1

If you're a tenured professor at a large, research university and have an endowed chair, you can definitely make enough money to afford the lifestyle the first essay writer described. Take the University of Michigan, for example (just because the salaries are public): a particular tenured professor in the Political Science Department makes $175,000. If both are tenured professors (unusual, but not impossible), you could conceivably be talking about $300,000 household income. Add speaking fees on top of that and, especially if they're living in a small college town (like Ann Arbor), they could definitely have a house like that.

Growing up, I had a great uncle who was a tenured professor at Columbia in the humanities. He had a huge apartment in Morningside Heights subsidized by the school. You should have seen this place: 3 bedrooms, small maid's room, eat in dining room. It would sell for a small fortune now, I'm sure.

I wonder if the school still does that.

A lot of academics come from family money, too. It's not a "safe" career route, so often times you find that people go into the field because they already have a financial safety net.

Anonymous wrote:Salaries for faculty really vary by area and whether you have tenure or not. When I was looking for a tenure-track position a few years ago, starting salaries in my area were around 60-70K depending on region. (I've now left academia largely due to low salaries and cost of living with young kids, and my non-profit salary is double that). I know tenure-track professors at reputable universities in the area who walk dogs etc. for extra money, and others who have trouble paying for high-quality childcare. Yes there are some fields that pay more (engineering, business, law), but also many that don't (social sciences, humanities, etc.).

+1. Here is some more info, just food for thought. Humanities discipline. My friend who is full professor at Columbia, truly exceptional, 15 legitimate books in excellent presses, about 50 articles, has been chair, blah blah, makes $175k. Associate professor at GT going up for full at present, a couple books, a couple translations, many articles 89k. A young friend just offered an assistant professor position in similar humanities discipline at UC Berkeley $70k, $25k signing bonus, plus 8k in yearly research funds.

Salaries for faculty really vary by area and whether you have tenure or not. When I was looking for a tenure-track position a few years ago, starting salaries in my area were around 60-70K depending on region. (I've now left academia largely due to low salaries and cost of living with young kids, and my non-profit salary is double that). I know tenure-track professors at reputable universities in the area who walk dogs etc. for extra money, and others who have trouble paying for high-quality childcare. Yes there are some fields that pay more (engineering, business, law), but also many that don't (social sciences, humanities, etc.).

Anonymous wrote:What professors live like that?

My parents do. They were academics, too.

As others pointed out, the writer is excellent at using a few specific references to illustrate a much bigger picture. It's not just a picture of materialism. It's a combination of greater prosperity and exposure to a broader world as evident in the newspaper subscriptions and travels.

As it is, two full professors with tenure at a large state university like Minnesota, or a top and middling private college, can easily have joint household incomes over 300k. Or a professor and senior university administrator. Hit senior administration levels (deans of colleges) and the pay skyrockets. My parents were at schools of Carnegie Mellon / Hopkins / WUSTL caliber and they lived in a comfortable house, sent their children to private schools, drove Volvos and travelled.

Many professors, of course, don't make much money but they aren't starving either. NYTimes subscriptions, overseas travel, nothing special about those.

I don't know how reliable this link is but it does show that six figure incomes for full professors are the norm at the major universities:

http://faculty-salaries.startclass.com/l/6303/University-of-Minnesota-Twin-Cities

Anonymous wrote:

Plus they get a ton of time off.

Academic here. This is the biggest (and most common) misconception around. Academics typically spend any time "off' working. That's when they do their research and writing.

+1

Plus they get a ton of time off.

Academic here. This is the biggest (and most common) misconception around. Academics typically spend any time "off' working. That's when they do their research and writing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tenured professor is a really good gig, that's why so many people want to do it.

It's adjuncting that doesn't pay well.

In the humanities, we are not driving Range Rovers. I work on the medieval Mediterranean. I am totally bilingual, can read at varying levels 4 other languages including Arabic and Hebrew, and I make $73k. I have a book in a good press, articles, do tons of service for my department, and am a decent teacher. When tenured, I will probably get a raise to 80 something. This is just FYI, not to complain. I obviously didn't do this for money.

On 170K+ (2x your salary after tenure, more if the other spouse is a law, business, economics, or engineering professor) especially in Minnesota, it's definitely not absurd that you could pay to have a housekeeper come 2x a week.

I respect the students for putting their guts on the page,,but a bit catch phrase all.