I love teaching college. I teach at a public college, so I don’t get paid enough, so that is a drawback. But I still love my job. The nice thing about teaching is you get summers off, and you can use that time to indulge in other interests. Plus I basically get to set my own hours, which can be very convenient.

I have a master’s in astrophysics, and I’m working (slowly) towards a doctorate in science education.

You can actually look up what your professors are making at your schools website. By law, since they are public servants and are receiving compensation because of your tuition payments and because of the state’s taxes, their salary and resume has to be made available to the students. It’s just something that has to be asked for since most departments will not readily disclose this information upfront. I found my school’s teachers salary page recently, and boy do some of the tenured professors make a huge amount of money. I’m talking just over $100,000 for teaching a few classes a year. Some of the associate professors unfortunately either make very little as part of their Ph.D program, or make around $30,000. Hope this helps.