Prevailing Wage for Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
Prevailing wage for Assistant Professor roles is set by the DOL across four experience levels, with the floor varying significantly by city and region. Whether your offer covers an Associate Professor, Instructor, or French Professor position, understanding which level applies is the first step to confirming your sponsored offer meets federal requirements.
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Entry-level filing for Assistant Professors new to postsecondary teaching in the U.S., typically lacking substantial independent course development experience. Applies to instructors under direct departmental supervision with a standard teaching load and limited research or service responsibilities.
The most common filing level for Assistant Professors. Covers qualified candidates with some postsecondary teaching experience who manage their own courses, develop syllabi independently, and may contribute to departmental curriculum without directing others.
Experienced Associate Professors or senior instructors with a substantial record of independent teaching, curriculum leadership, or published research. Applies when the role requires broad professional judgment and some oversight of junior faculty or graduate teaching assistants.
Fully competent senior faculty with extensive postsecondary teaching records, recognized scholarly or pedagogical contributions, and responsibilities that include mentoring, program direction, or departmental leadership beyond standard course instruction.
Prevailing Wage for Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary by OES area
Each shape is a DOL OES area, the unit prevailing wage is published for.
What’s an OES area?
The Department of Labor publishes prevailing wages for geographic zones called OES areas. Every U.S. county belongs to exactly one, and the wage floor applies across the whole area. A worker in Oakland gets the San Francisco metro wage, not a separate Oakland wage.
Top 10 cities · Level 1
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See which U.S. employers are actively hiring for Assistant Professor and sponsoring H-1B, OPT, and green card visas at or above the prevailing wage.
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Verify your worksite campus determines the wage floor
For Assistant Professors, the prevailing wage on the LCA must reflect the campus where you will actually teach, not the university's main administrative address. Multi-campus appointments can create worksite classification issues that shift the applicable wage floor.
Watch how summer teaching stipends are counted
Universities often pay summer course stipends separately from the base contract salary. DOL prevailing wage compliance is measured against annualized base pay, so confirm the wage on your LCA reflects your full-year equivalent, not just the nine-month academic contract.
Check whether your title triggers a different SOC code
Titles like Lecturer or Visiting Instructor are sometimes filed under a broader education SOC rather than SOC 25-1124. If your employer uses a generic title, confirm the SOC on the LCA matches your actual duties to avoid an undershooting wage floor.
Search Migrate Mate for employers who have sponsored this role
Migrate Mate shows historical visa sponsorship counts by employer, so you can identify which colleges and universities have actually sponsored Foreign Language and Literature Teachers in the past before investing time in an application.
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Find Jobs for Assistant ProfessorPrevailing Wage by Reported Job Title
DOL classifies these titles under SOC 25-1124.00 alongside Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary, so the same four-tier wage schedule applies to each. Tap a title to see the full breakdown.
Assistant Professor Prevailing Wage
Assistant Professor Prevailing Wage
Assistant Professor positions fall under SOC 25-1124.00 (Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary). DOL OFLC publishes one four-tier prevailing wage schedule for the entire classification; employers filing H-1B, E-3, or PERM petitions for this title use the levels below.
Associate Professor Prevailing Wage
Associate Professor Prevailing Wage
When a U.S. employer sponsors a Associate Professor for a work visa or green card, DOL applies the prevailing wage schedule for SOC 25-1124.00 (Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary). Wage level reflects the role's experience and responsibility, not the title itself.
Foreign Languages Professor Prevailing Wage
Foreign Languages Professor Prevailing Wage
Foreign Languages Professor is an O*NET-reported job title within SOC 25-1124.00 (Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary). All roles in this SOC share the same prevailing wage tiers. The level an employer files at depends on what the role requires, not which title is used.
French Professor Prevailing Wage
French Professor Prevailing Wage
French Professor positions fall under SOC 25-1124.00 (Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary). DOL OFLC publishes one four-tier prevailing wage schedule for the entire classification; employers filing H-1B, E-3, or PERM petitions for this title use the levels below.
German Professor Prevailing Wage
German Professor Prevailing Wage
When a U.S. employer sponsors a German Professor for a work visa or green card, DOL applies the prevailing wage schedule for SOC 25-1124.00 (Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary). Wage level reflects the role's experience and responsibility, not the title itself.
Instructor Prevailing Wage
Instructor Prevailing Wage
Instructor is an O*NET-reported job title within SOC 25-1124.00 (Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary). All roles in this SOC share the same prevailing wage tiers. The level an employer files at depends on what the role requires, not which title is used.
Modern Languages Professor Prevailing Wage
Modern Languages Professor Prevailing Wage
Modern Languages Professor positions fall under SOC 25-1124.00 (Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary). DOL OFLC publishes one four-tier prevailing wage schedule for the entire classification; employers filing H-1B, E-3, or PERM petitions for this title use the levels below.
Professor Prevailing Wage
Professor Prevailing Wage
When a U.S. employer sponsors a Professor for a work visa or green card, DOL applies the prevailing wage schedule for SOC 25-1124.00 (Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary). Wage level reflects the role's experience and responsibility, not the title itself.
Spanish Instructor Prevailing Wage
Spanish Instructor Prevailing Wage
Spanish Instructor is an O*NET-reported job title within SOC 25-1124.00 (Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary). All roles in this SOC share the same prevailing wage tiers. The level an employer files at depends on what the role requires, not which title is used.
Spanish Professor Prevailing Wage
Spanish Professor Prevailing Wage
Spanish Professor positions fall under SOC 25-1124.00 (Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary). DOL OFLC publishes one four-tier prevailing wage schedule for the entire classification; employers filing H-1B, E-3, or PERM petitions for this title use the levels below.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does DOL set the prevailing wage for an Assistant Professor position?
DOL uses Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to establish four wage levels for each SOC code in each metropolitan area. For SOC 25-1124, OFLC assigns the wage floor based on the experience level your employer selects when filing the Labor Condition Application. The employer is responsible for certifying the offered wage meets or exceeds that floor.
What do the four wage levels mean and how do I identify which applies to my offer?
Level 1 covers entry-level positions with minimal independent responsibility. Level 2 applies to qualified professionals with standard experience, and it is the most common filing level for Assistant Professor roles. Level 3 reflects experienced practitioners exercising significant independent judgment. Level 4 covers fully competent senior faculty in leadership positions. Review your job duties, years of postsecondary teaching experience, and any supervisory scope to identify which level the role genuinely reflects.
Why does the prevailing wage for the same Assistant Professor role differ so much between cities?
OFLC derives wage floors from regional Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics surveys, which capture actual pay in each metropolitan labor market. Faculty salaries at research universities in high-cost California metros differ substantially from those at smaller institutions in the Midwest or Southeast. The LCA must list the specific worksite metropolitan area, so the wage floor follows where you actually teach, not where the university is incorporated or where HR is located.
What happens if a sponsored offer is below the prevailing wage for an Associate Professor position?
An employer cannot certify a Labor Condition Application with a wage below the applicable DOL prevailing wage floor. USCIS will deny an H-1B petition if the underlying LCA wage is deficient. For PERM green card cases, OFLC will reject the application. If you receive an offer below the floor, the employer must either raise the offered salary, refile at a lower wage level that accurately reflects your duties, or select a different SOC code that genuinely matches the position.
How do I find and verify the prevailing wage for a Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary position at a specific U.S. location?
Use the OFLC Wage Search tool on the DOL website to look up SOC 25-1124 wages by metropolitan area and level. Select the correct metro for your worksite, not the nearest large city if they differ. You can also cross-reference published LCA disclosure data to see what wage levels competing universities have filed for similar roles in that market. Migrate Mate surfaces employers with a history of sponsoring this occupation, which can help you target institutions already familiar with the process.
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