Your year and your target
Add one for a paid summer term.
What an hour of your time has to earn.
Federal is $7.25; many states and cities are higher.
Offer A
Gross, before tax.
Count exam and grading week.
Live online sessions count.
Lecture writing, slides, readings.
Use the enrolment cap if it is likely to fill.
Averaged over the term.
Orientation, department meetings, LMS set-up.
Zero if you teach online.
Low-enrolment cancellations are common days before term.
Zero if the contract pays nothing.
Offer B
Gross, before tax.
Count exam and grading week.
Live online sessions count.
Lecture writing, slides, readings.
Use the enrolment cap if it is likely to fill.
Averaged over the term.
Orientation, department meetings, LMS set-up.
Zero if you teach online.
Low-enrolment cancellations are common days before term.
Zero if the contract pays nothing.
Offer C
Gross, before tax.
Count exam and grading week.
Live online sessions count.
Lecture writing, slides, readings.
Use the enrolment cap if it is likely to fill.
Averaged over the term.
Orientation, department meetings, LMS set-up.
Zero if you teach online.
Low-enrolment cancellations are common days before term.
Zero if the contract pays nothing.
Leave an offer's pay at zero to leave it out.
Result
Questions adjuncts ask
What does an adjunct course really pay per hour?
Divide the net pay by every hour the course takes, not only the hours in the room. Prep, grading that grows with each student, unpaid office hours and email, unpaid training and the drive all count. Many contracts that quote a good rate per class hour pay a fraction of it per hour of your time.
How do I compare two adjunct offers?
Enter each offer's pay, weeks, hours, enrolment, commute and costs. The tool ranks them by effective hourly pay after unpaid work, travel and costs, and shows the annual total at the number of courses you would teach, so a lower-paying online section can beat a higher-paying one across town.
How big a class should I accept?
Grading time rises with every student while the pay does not. The tool shows the largest class at which the course still pays your target hourly rate, and a table of your hourly pay at class sizes from 10 to 40, which is the figure to bring to a department that asks you to take extra students.
What should I do about cancellation risk?
Sections with low enrolment are often cancelled days before the term, after you have prepared. Enter the chance and any cancellation fee the contract promises. The tool cuts the expected pay accordingly and shows the per-course pay that would still reach your hourly target.
Is this pay or career advice?
No. It is arithmetic on figures you type. Benefits eligibility, tax, loan forgiveness rules and contract terms vary by school and state; check them with the school and a qualified professional.
Not decided
Tax, health-insurance or retirement eligibility, loan-forgiveness rules, pay for hours the school adds later, raises, whether a section runs at all beyond the percentage you enter, and the value of experience, a reference or a path to a full-time post. Every course in an offer is treated as identical, and a cancelled section is assumed to cost you the prep already done.
Related tools: the tutor effective hourly rate calculator, the travel nurse contract comparison calculator and the locum tenens vs employed calculator.