Q: Is there any guidelines regarding a pay scale for Non Credit Open Enrollment Instructors? Classes that you would put in a catalog on a regular basis.
A: The way that LERN recommends looking at instructor compensation is as part of the overall financial format for courses. Basically there are two categories of expense related to providng a course, promotion and production. Promotion is, of course, the cost of printing and mailing a brochure or other costs related to getting the word out. Production costs are the actual costs of providing the course. Production costs are made up primarily of instructor compensation. You would also include any costs for facilities you have to pay for or supplies you provide in production costs, but typically this is minimal if there are any at all.
Promotion costs should range between 10% and 15% of income.Production costs for courses should range between 35% and 40% of income. This means that promotion and production costs (which are essentially instructor compensation) should not exceed 50% of your income for open enrollment courses or 40% of income for contract training events.
Allocating 35% to 40% of income for instructor pay is the benchmark LERN recommends for financially self-sufficient programs.