Dive Brief:

• In a list of the best- and worst-paying education jobs compiled by Forbes, postsecondary faculty take nine out of 10 of the best-paying spots.
• Forbes reports that postsecondary law teachers, on average, make the most with annual salaries of about $126,000, and they are followed by instructors of health specialties, economics, engineering, and, of course, administrators.
• Physics instructors, those in the earth sciences, and teachers of agricultural sciences rounded out the top 10 list, along with elementary and secondary administrators, according to the article.

Dive Insight:

Articles about higher education pay often focus on the very highest earning professors or, more commonly, university presidents, some of whom have compensation packages that easily top $1 million. The Forbes list looks at averages and with 131,070 postsecondary education administrators in the field, the average drops to an annual salary of $101,910. It is, of course, not surprising that postsecondary instructors dominate the best-paid list and elementary and secondary teachers fall at the other end of the spectrum. But resoundingly, educators of all stripes are being attacked as overpaid or accused of getting extravagant benefits at a time when taxpayer dollars spent on education are being watched especially closely.

Recommended Reading

Forbes: The 10 best- and worst-paying education jobs