College Professor Who Makes $20,000 A Year Gave An Eye-Opening AMA

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Patrick Semansky/AP

Earlier this week Reddit user 20kadjunct did an "Ask Me Anything" on Reddit about what it is like to be an adjunct professor with an annual salary of $20,000.

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Colleges are increasingly relying on adjunct professors, who don't have the job security or benefits of faculty professors.

Adjunct professors - many of whom have their doctorates - are notoriously underpaid, and this one is no different. This academic taught six course sections over this past school year while earning approximately $27.78/hour. (While this user did not reveal his identity, he sent proof of his position to Reddit's moderators.)

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Here is the most obvious first question.

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Reddit/20kadjunct

With three jobs in total, life can be hard.

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20kadjunct/Reddit

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Life would be different if he were a faculty professor.

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20kadjunct/Reddit

The workload is often more than a part-time job.

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20kadjunct/Reddit

Even though this academic mentioned several times in the thread how 'lucky' he is to have great students who are interested in his lectures, he still thinks he should be paid more.

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20kadjunct/Reddit