Academic Altruism

Yesterday I talked to one of my advisers about the state of economy as a whole and our school's financial situation in particular. He told me, with pride, that, despite the global economic turmoil, the school is expecting to raise professors' pay by a few percent this year. And just a few days earlier I saw an article where it was announced that our school, once again, raises tuition. I asked him how he felt about struggling families being forced to pay even more despite that many of them are struggling financially. His response was like: "Well, this school is going to lose its top-notch faculty members if they stop paying well. For example, I constantly get good offers from other schools and if I the pay I get here doesn't satisfy me I may leave".

And then they tell doctoral students that people who decide to pursue PhD are not interested in money...

Professors are greedy

Many of the professors I met suffer from greed. Of course, there are fields where professors don't make much money and they are simply forced to live a frugal lifestyle. But the ones that I met were making well above 100K a year for sure and yet were driving old rusty cars and wearing washed-out 3 dollar t-shirts to school.

I think the roots of this problem lie in the PhD program. Most professors have to undergo years and years of poverty before they become profs. So being frugal becomes a permanent trait.