How much do adjunct accounting professors make per course?

Across 65 accounting adjunct postings that disclose pay, the median is $4,700 per course; the middle half of listings fall between $2,491 and $7,225.

Do online adjunct accounting jobs pay less?

Online accounting listings show a median of $2,500 per course against $4,700 overall (from 5 online postings with disclosed pay). Institutions usually pay online and in-person sections at the same rate; the gap reflects which institutions hire online.

What would that be per year?

At the $4,700 median, three courses a term over two terms is about $28,200 before tax, with no benefits. Loads are usually capped below the level that would trigger benefits eligibility.

Adjunct accounting professor pay per course

From real accounting adjunct and lecturer postings across U.S. colleges and universities, refreshed daily. Live and recently closed listings both count.

Median per course · accounting: $4,700
Middle half of listings (25th–75th): $2,491 – $7,225
Typical range (5th–95th): $732 – $13,458
Institutions disclosing pay: 47

Based on 65 listings that disclose per-course pay.

Highest-paying institutions

Median per course among institutions with at least three disclosed-pay accounting listings.

University of Arizona$5,000n=3
Southern New Hampshire University$2,500n=3
Broward College$2,491n=4
North Central Texas College$680n=3

By state

States with at least five disclosed-pay accounting listings.

California$10,230n=8
Massachusetts$6,899n=10
Illinois$3,749n=8
Texas$1,000n=7

Twelve-month trend

$5,031

Feb 2026

$11,218

Mar 2026

$3,750

Apr 2026

$3,246

May 2026

$3,850

Jun 2026

$6,097

Jul 2026

$2,500

Aug 2026

$4,500

Sep 2026

$6,750

Oct 2026

Median per-course pay of listings posted each month.

What the median means per year

Adjuncts are paid per course, so annual income depends on load. At $4,700 per course:

2 courses × 2 terms: $18,800
3 courses × 2 terms: $28,200
4 courses × 3 terms: $56,400

Before tax, no benefits. Most institutions cap adjuncts below the load that would trigger benefits eligibility.

Frequently asked questions

How much do adjunct accounting professors make per course?: Across 65 accounting adjunct postings that disclose pay, the median is $4,700 per course; the middle half of listings fall between $2,491 and $7,225.
Do online adjunct accounting jobs pay less?: Online accounting listings show a median of $2,500 per course against $4,700 overall (from 5 online postings with disclosed pay). Institutions usually pay online and in-person sections at the same rate; the gap reflects which institutions hire online.
What would that be per year?: At the $4,700 median, three courses a term over two terms is about $28,200 before tax, with no benefits. Loads are usually capped below the level that would trigger benefits eligibility.

Where these numbers come from

Every figure is computed from adjunct, lecturer, and part-time faculty postings that OpenLecture tracks across 4,000+ U.S. institutions, refreshed daily. Closed listings stay in the sample, so the picture covers roughly the past year.
Only postings that state a per-course amount are compared. Hourly and annual quotes are reported separately and never converted.
Where a range is posted, the top of the range is used. Figures below $500 or above $25,000 per course are excluded as mislabelled periods.
Medians are shown, not averages, so a handful of outliers cannot move them. Pages with fewer than 25 disclosed-pay listings carry a warning.
Roughly a quarter of adjunct postings disclose pay at all; these numbers describe the institutions that do.

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