"Market value" for tutors?

[gadogry]

Suppose a PhD student in Math is giving private tutorials to an undergrad. Does anybody know the "market value" of such service? $30-$35 an hour?

Thanks!

[alv077]

I highly doubt you will fetch that much. I assume by undergrads, you mean, "UW/WLU mathies" - MC is completely littered with those ads for private tutors... I would say maybe $20/hour at most... perhaps work out some group deal by trolling outside of frosh math classes before first midterm/after first midterm comes back.

Offer to show up to a 2 hour review session with several students. Just be like, "You can have me for an hour for $50. Bring as many people as you want."

I honestly don't see the market for making $30/hour off an individual though. Most people I know would rather use that money for their math-induced alcohol problems...

[Code of Conduct]

I was paid 30/hr when I tutored. My friend recieved 50/hr. It all depends on how specialized your skills are..for example, if you're tutoring a student on a specific course which is high level, 50/hr is easy to get. This is mostly because:

1. it's a one-on-one session
2. you're traveling to meet them
3. lessons usually last only 1-2 hrs every few days
4. you're highly qualified
5. you need to recoup for opportunity loss of not working somewhere else

[steevee]

^ point 5 is kind of silly... Every job has an "opportunity cost" of not working somewhere else.

I see ads charging for $20-25 for low level courses. For 300 and 400 level courses, I still couldn't imagine someone paying $50. $30-35 would be more realistic, and if it's a damn hard course, maybe $40.

"You can have me for an hour for $50. Bring as many people as you want."

Are we still talking about tutoring? :lol:

[Code of Conduct]

Opportunity loss: the way I look at it is you're not paying for an hour of a tutor's time. You're paying for an hour of the tutor's time to sit with you, another hour of them prepping for whatever they're going to cover for you and to make a course plan, as well as an hour back/forth of travel time for them. That's why these one hour sessions cost so much. 50/hr was pretty realistic for some of my friends, I suppose it all depends on what you're teaching, where you're teaching, etc.

[Dimension]

^ oh geez! lol :lol:

My friend is an undergrad and she tutors people in math. She charges $30/hr.

I'm assuming that with a higher education, the charges may increase. It really depends on the person, and their comfort level of payment for teaching someone.

[steevee]

Opportunity loss: the way I look at it is you're not paying for an hour of a tutor's time. You're paying for an hour of the tutor's time to sit with you, another hour of them prepping for whatever they're going to cover for you and to make a course plan, as well as an hour back/forth of travel time for them. That's why these one hour sessions cost so much. 50/hr was pretty realistic for some of my friends, I suppose it all depends on what you're teaching, where you're teaching, etc.

All right I get what you're referring to then.

[Code of Conduct]

All right I get what you're referring to then.

Yea, sorry about that, I don't think I was being very clear at all. (I think I was probably labeling opportunity cost incorrectly as well :)). Bottem line, tutoring is expensive (for me).

[ngold]

Depends on how experienced you are. I'd say start off from $20. When you are experienced, you can get them to understand stuff quickly and then they wouldn't feel ripped off even at $40 / hour.

[night_sky]

I think $30 is reasonable for PhDs... no one can understand what they're saying anyway. :cheesygri

Jokes aside, I tell my tutees that I will charge what I charge for my time, and if I feel it was completely a waste of my time and theirs, I'll give their money back. I don't want to get paid if I didn't accomplish anything, and when that happens, it's obvious to both the tutor and the tutee. So far, though, I never had to give back the money. =)

[Defiant]

Im a tutor at U of T.

$30-35 is the starting rate for most tutors for 300/400 level courses. I've seen some charge $40, but I've never heard of $50.

[gadogry]

Thanks for the replies guys. I should start looking around to see what people in my area are asking.

[aquariaguy]

Suppose a PhD student in Math is giving private tutorials to an undergrad. Does anybody know the "market value" of such service? $30-$35 an hour?

Thanks!

I wouldn't tutor undergrad. You will make more money tutoring high school kids. You should be able to get $45/hr. I had a friend who was in chem. eng. and charged $50/hr for high school calc and chem. All you have to do is find one rich private school kid and be nice to the family and you'll get others. My friend had 5 students, once a week on Sat. for 1 hr. He made a killing.