Armsby, in 1907, reported that that salaries paid to 509 experiment station workers ranged from $642. to $4000 with an average of $1442; that the average maximun salary was $2269; and that the minimum salary paid by the stations was as high as $1200. (1) The Office of Experiment Stations collected information from 500 persons who graduated from an agricultural college in 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911. This number was only a fraction of the total number graduated in these years, and only 20 were engaged in work other than college, high-school and research work. The yearly averages are shown in the following table: 1907 : Av. of salaries $947.50: 1908 :: 1909 $921.50: A.D. : 192.00: 200.00: 935.53: $1017.47: $994.66 The large average in 1910 was caused by the increased demand due to the establishment of a large number of agricultural schools able to pay large salaries. The demand arising from the operation of the Smith-Lever act will probable produce an increase for the present year. On the other hand, there has been much agitation for higher qualifications on the part of college and research worker and there is a growing tedency to demand more than a bachelor's degree for such work. Dr. True, in an address to agricultural students, expressed his conviction that in the near future a doctor's degree would be the customary prerequisite for such work. This will lessen the competition for graduates, for it must be kept in mind that the average graduate will prefer college 1, Armsby. Research as a career. 2, Robison-Jenks. op. cit. p.43. Proc. Soc.Prom.Agrl.Sci. 1907, p.23. 10 and research work to teaching in a high school, even if the initial salary is less. It is well known tha special agricultural schools have paid high salaries to their agricultural teachers, and agricultural colleges are using this fact freely in their advertisements for students. Minnesota, for example, makes the following statement: "Men wanted. "The demand for farm -reared men with agricultural college education, especially for those who have had teaching experience, is beyond the supply, at salaries ranging from $1,200 to $3,000. *** Graduates of the College of agriculture who wish to teach are in demand in Minnesota high schools at salaries of 1,200 and above, for those without teaching experience and at higher salaries for those who have taught successfully. ***Teaching agriculture does not unfit a man for business but prepares him even better for running his own farm, managing a farm for someone else, or for entering the field of commercial agriculture ***. The dead line of age retirement recedes a long distance when one's educational career touches elbows with the business world." (1) This statement would indicate that students are not very Iowa reports that " calls for teachers of agriculture came from 23 states, last can It is usually assumed that an agricultural graduate salaries as are paid by the special agricultural schools with a large state-aid. The question remains: Can high 1, U. of Minn. Bul. 26, General series. 1915. D8-9. Missouri gives only a small aid for agricultural instruction in public high schools and has no special schools. In reply to an inquiry regarding the work of the University of Missouri in regard to the training of agricultural teachers, Professor Merriam writes: "There is a demand in the state for teachers of agriculture, but students who really perfect themselves in the science of agriculture find much more remunerative positions as farm advisors and farm managers" N High school salaries in general are far below that paid to teachers in the special schools. Courts reports, in the previously mentioned study on the accredited schools of the North Central Association, that the teachers' salaries range from $300 to $4000; that the median salary is $919, ranging by states, from $752 to $1238. (1) These figures are likely to be high, as a large number of the reporting schools are located in large cities, such as Chicago, St.Louis, and Kansas City. Robison-Jenks have reported in detail on some information concerning salaries which the Bureau of Education obtained in 1912 from 125 selected teachers. (2) Their tabulations schow that the most usual salary paid to agricultural graduates is $1200, as against $700 for men teachers in general. (3) Two-thirds of the agricultural teachers are paid from $900 to $1500, as against $500 to $1100 for men teachers in general. Teachers in special agricultural schools receive a salary about 1/4 larger than teachers of agriculture in public high schools. The teachers estimated than they receive 1, 2, 3 op.cit. Bur. Educ., Bul.1915,15: p.58-9. Robison-Jenks. Agrl instruction in high schools. p226-45. |
