Januaby 8, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



47 



the Professor in America and Germany." 

 In view of the unusual opportunity pos- 

 sessed by the Foundation for the gathering 

 of authoritative data, the figures presented 

 merit attention. No distinctions are made 

 between teachers of science and those in 

 other departments, but, considering sal- 

 aries only, it does not appear that marked 

 differences exist, and it is probable that the 

 average salaries as there given may be 

 taken as being also representative of those 

 of science teachers. Some of the more 

 relevant statements are as follows: Con- 

 sidering one hundred and three institu- 

 tions in the United States and Canada 

 which have an annual salary budget of 

 $45,000 and over, the average salary of a 

 full professorship ranges from $1,350 to 

 $4,788. Only eight institutions report an 

 average below $1,800, and only nine an 

 average above $3,500. Half of these in- 

 stitutions average less than $2,200. Ta- 

 king them all into account, the average ap- 

 pears to be close to $2,500, but there are 

 more below than above this figure. In- 

 dividual salaries apparently vary from 

 about $500 to $8,000, both being, however, 

 exceptional. 



The average salary of an assistant pro- 

 fessor is about $1,600 (half of the institu- 

 tions pay less than $1,500 ) ; and the salary 

 for the grade of instructor averages a little 

 over $1,000. 



Closely linked with the amount of the 

 salaries paid is the question of the period 

 in the teacher's life when the various 

 amounts may be expected to be obtainable. 

 On this point the statement in the bulletin, 

 based on the available data, is this: 



A man acceptable to these institutions for a 

 position worth $1,250 will be on an average 28 

 years old; a man appointed to a position worth 

 $1,750 will be on an average 31 years old when 

 appointed to it; one appointed to a position worth 

 $2,250 will be on an average 33 years old; one 

 appointed to a position worth $2,500 or over will 

 be on an average 34 years old. 



And elsewhere it is stated that appoint- 

 ments to positions carrying salaries of 

 $3,000 and upward are not usually made 

 before at least 35 to 39 years of life have 

 been completed. 



It is interesting to note in passing that 

 the data from fifty-four additional institu- 

 tions having salary budgets below $45,000 

 annually, indicate that the average salary 

 of a full professorship in them is $1,800, 

 and that this is reached by men when about 

 33 years of age. 



The average salary of an assistant ap- 

 proximates $500. It is, however, properly 

 emphasized that the period of service as 

 assistant is essentially one of apprentice- 

 ship, during which the incumbent gains 

 much more than is represented by the 

 monthly salary check. Indeed, it is my 

 own conviction that a year of service of 

 this character is, to a right-minded young 

 man, nearly the equivalent of a year of 

 post-graduate study, and affords an ex- 

 perience which is valuable, whether the 

 career ultimately chosen is that of a 

 teacher, or lies in the commercial field. 



In order to determine whether, or by 

 approximately how much, the teacher is at 

 a disadvantage as compared with others of 

 equal age and training in other occupa- 

 tions, information was collected by the 

 Carnegie Foundation which is to the effect 

 that the average competent lawyer and 

 competent engineer, after being out of the 

 professional school about eight or ten years 

 (thus approximating the age at which a 

 full professorship with an average salary 

 of $2,500 is attained) would be earning in 

 New York between four and five thousand 

 dollars a year. A physician might earn 

 somewhat more. The average professor's 

 salary at Columbia University is $4,289, 

 while that of the College of the City of New 

 York is $4,788; but, for special reasons, 

 these averages are said to be abnormal. The 

 corresponding figure for Stevens Institute 



