California lecturers earn six figures teaching dozens of courses across colleges

An investigation found that more than 70 instructors are teaching across at least five California college districts or university campuses, often using pre-recorded online lectures. The lack of shared workload tracking and limits across the state’s 73 independent community college districts has enabled some to take on many courses and earn large salaries, prompting concerns about teaching quality.

Sociologist Thien-Huong Ninh Villarreal taught 30 classes to as many as 1,100 students and earned nearly $800,000 in 2024, while astronomy instructor Andrew Vanden Heuvel taught about 50 online classes and labs to up to 1,000 students in a semester, earning $758,485 that year. Vanden Heuvel said his materials provide a good education and serve rural colleges with few alternatives, though he does not grade work himself; another professor, Bobby Seals, teaches 14 additional courses at four districts alongside his full-time post. Community colleges assess courses but lack insight into professors’ overall workloads, while state university systems can limit teaching loads within their own institutions.