Lecturer salaries

From universities to adult education institutions: What do lecturers earn?

What is a lecturer?

Lecturers are professionals who teach at universities and institutions of adult education. At universities, they can include professors, research assistants, adjuncts and guest lecturers.

In adult education, lecturers work at adult education centres, chambers of industry and commerce or other public or church organizations, for example. As opposed to universities, they do not need to possess a doctorate or a habilitation (though there are exceptions). Depending on the employer or client, they tend to be experts in a particular subject area who have appropriate educational skills.

What do lecturers at universities and other higher education institutions earn?

The category of lecturers is broad, and it includes all teaching staff at universities – professors, research assistants, adjuncts and guest lecturers. The following salaries are to be expected:

• Professors are paid according to the W salary scale and receive a base salary of just under 5,000 euros (W1) to around 8,000 euros gross per month (W3).
• Research assistants, i.e., doctoral candidates and postdocs, are paid according to the collective bargaining agreement. Depending on their pay grade – E13, E14 or E15 – and their professional experience, they earn between 4,500 and 7,000 euros gross per month.
• Private lecturers (Privatdozent), a specific category in Germany that refers to academics who have achieved their habilitation but do not yet hold a professorship, must hold lectures in order to maintain their status. But they are not remunerated for their lecturing activities.
• Guest lecturers or adjunct professors(Lehrbeauftragter) are usually paid according to the number of hours (45 minutes) per week they teach in a given semester – called a semester week hour. The hourly rate varies and is generally between 15 and 50 euros, but usually between 25 and 30 euros gross.

In which German states do lecturers earn the most? 

Lecturers in adult education who can freely choose their place of residence would be well advised to settle in the states of Hesse, Hamburg, Baden-Württemberg or Bavaria. According to an analysis by the portal gehalt.de, average salaries in those states are over 5,000 euros. In the states that were part of the former East Germany (with the exception of Berlin), on the other hand, lecturers earn less than 4,000 euros per month on average. Lecturers in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania earn the least, at 3,677 euros a month. 

It must be noted, however, that the date from gehalt.de is based on individual surveys and responses and may therefore differ from other sources. Salaries for lecturers in adult education are recorded here.