Best Salaries in Academia

Educators aren't exactly known for their fat paychecks. Still, earning a six-figure income in academia might be more common than you think.

Teachers have long been trying to collect better pay -- a struggle that's unlikely to end anytime soon. After adjusting for inflation, teachers' weekly wages rose just 0.8 percent between 1996 and 2003, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan think tank. Over the same period, other college graduates' pay jumped 11.8 percent.

Public school teachers now earn an average of $47,750 per year, the National Education Association (NEA) estimates.