Most people will say that one can earn a great deal of money teaching online. Some well-known books claim that adjunct instructors can bring in upwards of 100K per year. While I agree that adjuncts could possibly do this – they would also probably be working every minute of every day.
One reason that many teachers choose to pursue teaching online is the hope of making more money. While I would argue that most teachers did not pursue careers in teaching for the financial aspects of the career, once we’ve started our career and realize the many bills and financial obligations that are necessary each month, many teachers are forced to branch out and look for an additional part-time job in the evenings, on weekends, or during the summer, in order to make ends meet financially.
For those who are seeking an additional part-time job to supplement a traditional full-time teaching salary, teaching online can be a good fit. Teaching online can be done from home during hours when one is not teaching at their traditional school and can be flexible while providing extra income.
Teaching online can also be a good fit for those who are retired but not making enough through their pensions to make ends meet.
For parents wanting to stay home with small children, teaching online can also be a good fit as it allows the stay at home parent to keep a foot in their career and still take care of their own children.
In an adjunct capacity, earning can be unlimited depending on the number of schools, number of courses, and number of hours one is willing to devote to teaching online. If one is willing to work full-time hours and is both effective and efficient in their online courses, I do feel that it is possible to make more than many traditional teaching positions in this capacity.
For those who would like to have a full-time career teaching online, full-time positions are much more difficult to find and obtain. Almost all full-time online teaching positions require a doctorate, but some will hire full-time instructors with only a master’s degree. These positions can be quite demanding but the pay is usually better than standard traditional teaching positions. The benefit of choosing to teach full-time online
When thinking about online teaching, it is best not to assume that you will be working part-time in an adjunct capacity. This almost always means that there are no benefits – no retirement, no insurance, etc. If those aspects are important to you, continuing to work in a traditional capacity may be worth it, even though the take home pay is lower. Supplementing a traditional teaching career with part-time work may be lucrative, but giving up the full-time, traditional position may not always be the best fit.
I did take the risk and gave up my traditional teaching position when my children were born, hoping to keep my foot in the door online and eventually return to full-time teaching when the children were in school full days. I gave up retirement, insurance (luckily, we were covered under my husband’s), and some earnings, during this time. However, I was lucky to land a full-time position with the perks just a few months after my children started full-day school. It’s a risk I wouldn’t necessarily recommend, even though it did ultimately work in my favor.
As a full-time instructor, I am still able to supplement my income by adjuncting for other schools (read your contract carefully, some will have a non-compete clause) but I must be very careful as the demands of my full-time position require many hours and balancing additional courses and my family can be very challenging. However, I do feel that the earning level is unlimited – if I was willing to work 120 hours a week, I could make significantly more money than I do now. But finding a balance between the number of courses one can realistically teach and maintaining family time and the lifestyle one desires is also important to consider.
About the Author
Jamie Weitl is a WAHM teaching for several online universities and raising three precocious little ones. In her spare time she enjoys writing, baking, and running. For more info, see my Google Plus Profile.
