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Study: Law, engineering, business make most cash

Law, business and engineering professors hold the highest paid positions at most universities around the country, according to a recent survey of college professors’ salaries.

A report from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources says engineering, law and business professors make roughly $102,000 to $129,527.

Michael Knetter, dean of the University of Wisconsin’s School of Business said base starting pay for new professors at the Wisconsin School of Business is $125,000 to $180,000 depending on the field.

UW’s high-profile law and business schools generate a lot of competition according to Law School Assistant Dean Carolyn Lazar Butler.

Knetter said the popularity of the law program has prompted smaller admission rates for the school, currently made up of approximately 1400 juniors and seniors.

“We have had nearly twice as many applicants as we have had spaces available for the past two years,” Knetter said.

In law, Butler said the program offers a broad education, which appeals to a variety of individuals as well as “open[ing] a lot of doors” for people interested in business or public service.

CUPA-HR cited the three areas of study with the lowest average salaries as English, visual/performing arts and parks, recreation, leisure and fitness studies. Salaries for professors in these areas of study range from $76,038 to $76,793.

Knetter put the rising pay scales in terms of an increasing economic demand.

“It is driven by broader market forces that we could categorize as supply and demand. Rising salaries would be associated with demand outpacing supply,” Knetter said. “Demand for business faculty has grown in recent years.”

Butler, however, said they are looking for the very best to teach and the very best are currently employed in the field.

“The [desired] professors are out there in the professional world, and they are earning high salaries and… it is very hard to get the top people back into the law school without being at least somewhat financially competitive,” Butler said. “Most people take a large pay cut to go from their professional lives as lawyers back into academia.”

Knetter also pointed to the effect of the decreased income faced by those who choose to leave the professional world in order to educate.

“Supply has not grown nearly enough, in part because of the attraction of work in the private sector for many actual or potential Ph.D. candidates,” Knetter said. “The opportunity cost of being an academic in these fields has risen sharply of late.”