Despite the fact that undergraduates and professors form the basic financial and intellectual structure of a university, it’s not going so well for them. The average student now pays $15,213 a year (tuition plus room and board) to attend a public college and a total $35,636 annually to attend a private college. The average adjunct professor earns about $2,000 a course, and often doesn’t receive health care or other benefits.
It might be a lot better to be an assistant football coach. According to an article by Steve Wieberg and Steve Berkowitz in USA Today:
The list of assistant [coaches] earning $250,000 or more in the NCAA’s top-tier Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) is up from at least 106 a year ago to 132 this season. Fifty-one are in the SEC [Southeastern Conference].
Twenty-six assistants are pulling down $400,000 or more, double the number making that much in 2009. Thirteen are in the SEC, topped by four defensive coordinators making $700,000 or better.
No doubt these assistant football coaches are quite talented and work very hard for their six-figure salaries. This information does indicate something rather interesting about the priorities of Southeastern Conference schools, however.
The average assistant professor at one of these schools makes less than $71,300 a year. [Image via]
