Adjunct mathematics professor pay per course
From real mathematics adjunct and lecturer postings across U.S. colleges and universities, refreshed daily. Live and recently closed listings both count.
- Median per course · mathematics
- $3,498
- Middle half of listings (25th–75th)
- $1,499 – $6,189
- Typical range (5th–95th)
- $784 – $11,364
- Institutions disclosing pay
- 60
Based on 77 listings that disclose per-course pay.
Highest-paying institutions
Median per course among institutions with at least three disclosed-pay mathematics listings.
- University of California-Santa Cruz$20,908n=3
- Governors State University$4,500n=3
- Waubonsee Community College$3,498n=3
- Broward College$2,491n=4
By state
States with at least five disclosed-pay mathematics listings.
- California$8,296n=9
- Massachusetts$6,250n=13
- New York$3,800n=6
- Illinois$3,431n=10
- Texas$2,130n=10
Twelve-month trend
$4,141Nov 2025
$4,031Jan 2026
$1,337Feb 2026
$5,500Mar 2026
$3,500Apr 2026
$2,900May 2026
$5,625Jun 2026
$3,050Jul 2026
$4,249Aug 2026
$2,539Sep 2026
$4,500Oct 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 $3,498 per course:
- 2 courses × 2 terms
- $13,992
- 3 courses × 2 terms
- $20,988
- 4 courses × 3 terms
- $41,976
Before tax, no benefits. Most institutions cap adjuncts below the load that would trigger benefits eligibility.
Frequently asked questions
- How much do adjunct mathematics professors make per course?
- Across 77 mathematics adjunct postings that disclose pay, the median is $3,498 per course; the middle half of listings fall between $1,499 and $6,189.
- Do online adjunct mathematics jobs pay less?
- Online mathematics listings show a median of $2,596 per course against $3,498 overall (from 2 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 $3,498 median, three courses a term over two terms is about $20,988 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.