dd131005 wrote:In general, yes, branch campuses do equal a lesser education, that's why they cost less and the professors are paid less.
True, there are branch campuses that offer degrees/course work not offered by main campuses. Typically a specialty degree or certification.
Generally, yes, the better profs end up at the main campuses, but what better means depends on what the hiring dept thinks it does. If it is a big state school, the emphasis is often primarily on research and publishing. Being an excellent teacher is not always put at a premium. In some smaller, private liberal arts colleges, the emphasis is on teaching, not publishing. Sometimes departments require a good balance of publishing and teaching. Sometimes the better teacher will edge out the person with more books or more articles in more prestigious journals depending on what the department prioritizes. Of course, the best schools end up with the best teachers AND the most gifted contributors to their fields. But most schools are not best.
Also, the east and west coasts are much more competitive markets. Sometimes a prof will take a lesser job on the east or west coast because she or he does not wish to live in nowhere midwest U. So some of those satellite profs are better than the folks at the main campus in the middle of nowhere. I once had a conversation with a graduate student in a nationally recognized dept at Pitt headed to the academy. Asked her if she would take a job in the South or Midwest. No way in hell, said she. Said she'd work at a community college in a major east coast city first.
Don't be too quick to suppose a professor getting paid less at a satellite branch is not as good at teaching or researching in her or his field. Sometimes they are better at one or the other than some of their main campus colleagues. Just as often they are indeed worse.
And another reason for pay discrepancy: branding. Campus satellite not as sexy, not as attractive, and can't pull the same tuition price as a result.
