When you take college classes, you will most likely be taught by a variety of different educators, from adjunct professors to tenured ones. What’s the difference?

Adjunct professors are educators that are hired on a part-time, contractual basis. They are not full-time teachers and often have a second job to supplement their income. Adjuncts are traditionally hired to meet student demand when programs become too full and additional classes are created to fill in for a tenured professor on leave or to conduct trial classes the university is interested in including in their program offerings. To become an adjunct, most colleges require people to possess a master’s degree in that field, but some only ask for a bachelor’s degree and real world experience.

More and more universities are hiring adjunct professors as their federal and state funding is being cut each year. This is because the cost of hiring an adjunct is much lower than that of a tenured professor. Adjuncts are not entitled to receive benefits like health and life insurance, retirement plan, paid vacation and other perks. They are also not likely to receive their own office space, which cuts down on the cost of maintenance for the university. Most colleges provide communal work space for their adjuncts.

On the other hand, some college educators are lucky enough to be hired full-time, then promoted to the rank of assistant professor and then associate professor and then full professor. At any point in this process they are eligible for tenure, a lifetime appointment to their university until their retirement. Tenure is awarded to academics that have proven themselves in research, the classroom and in administration. It provides professors with full-time salary, benefits and great respect amongst peers until they decide to leave the university.

Tenure was traditionally awarded to professors to promote academic freedom, meaning they would be free to argue, promote, research and study controversial ideas and theories without the fear of losing their jobs. But many critics believe that tenure only opens the door for lazy and underperforming professors to take advantage of the system. For the most part, universities support the practice of tenure, believing that it promotes academic excellence among its younger faculty and can be cost saving. For example, non-tenured professors must prove themselves by displaying excellent teaching and research abilities in order to be nominated for tenure. This benefits the university immensely.