Professors of Different Fields Make Different Amounts

We had dinner last night with the manager of the Jazz Lab in our new small town. She was a wonderful guest who came bearing wine and fancy cheese which accompanied my pasta dish.

Over dinner, she mentioned the salary of the jazz professors, those with doctoral degrees and years of experience, and I was surprised that it was much lower than what Bryan is making.

Apparently, that's the case. And for my economist husband, it was obvious that those of different fields would make different amounts. But for those of you who think like me, let me break it down:

According to Salary.com's Salary Wizard (median salaries),
an accounting professor makes $104,000
a business professor makes $75,111
a chemistry professor makes $51,445
a civil engineering professor makes $68,311
a communications professor makes $52,450
a drama professor makes $48,380
an economics professor makes $67,573
an education professor makes $53,000
an English professor makes $50,750
a music professor makes $49,500

Bryan explained to me that part of the salary for anything represents your opportunity cost which is typically what you could do somewhere else.

If you think about an accountant, in order to get her to be a professor, you'd have to pay her at least what she would make in the business world. You won't get people to leave the business world unless you pay well. Also, there's the difficulty in the field of study that contributes. Accounting is really difficult; it's complicated, and that's why they make more money. It's all about opportunity cost, apparently.

Interesting. I learned something new.