How much do adjunct music professors make per course?

Across 111 music adjunct postings that disclose pay, the median is $3,100 per course; the middle half of listings fall between $1,216 and $6,431.

Do online adjunct music jobs pay less?

Online music listings show a median of $1,900 per course against $3,100 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 $3,100 median, three courses a term over two terms is about $18,600 before tax, with no benefits. Loads are usually capped below the level that would trigger benefits eligibility.

Adjunct music professor pay per course

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

Median per course · music: $3,100
Middle half of listings (25th–75th): $1,216 – $6,431
Typical range (5th–95th): $751 – $10,912
Institutions disclosing pay: 67

Based on 111 listings that disclose per-course pay.

Highest-paying institutions

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

University of California-Santa Cruz$10,912n=6
Ball State University$9,000n=3
Brandeis University$8,764n=4
University of Colorado Denver$5,371n=3
Rider University$4,215n=4
Sul Ross State University$2,700n=4
Broward College$2,491n=6
Truckee Meadows Community College$1,150n=3
Cuyahoga Community College$942n=4
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey$750n=3

By state

States with at least five disclosed-pay music listings.

California$10,912n=18
Massachusetts$7,521n=12
New York$5,500n=7
Colorado$5,371n=5
Illinois$3,624n=8
Florida$2,491n=8
Texas$2,055n=12
New Jersey$1,700n=10

Twelve-month trend

$1,174

Dec 2025

$943

Jan 2026

$1,025

Feb 2026

$5,500

Mar 2026

$14,523

Apr 2026

$942

May 2026

$7,465

Jun 2026

$5,371

Jul 2026

$2,850

Aug 2026

$1,150

Sep 2026

$4,215

Oct 2026

$810

Nov 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 $3,100 per course:

2 courses × 2 terms: $12,400
3 courses × 2 terms: $18,600
4 courses × 3 terms: $37,200

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

Frequently asked questions

How much do adjunct music professors make per course?: Across 111 music adjunct postings that disclose pay, the median is $3,100 per course; the middle half of listings fall between $1,216 and $6,431.
Do online adjunct music jobs pay less?: Online music listings show a median of $1,900 per course against $3,100 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 $3,100 median, three courses a term over two terms is about $18,600 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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