by our College Data Analytics TeamGet a feel for student life at Palo Alto College by checking out the information on classes and faculty below.
On this page you’ll find:
At Palo Alto College, the student to faculty ratio is 30 to 1. Compared to the national average of 15 to 1, this is somewhat high. This could mean that class sizes may be larger than at other colleges.
The following table shows all the employees the school considers instructional, and therefore, part of the above student-to-faculty ratio. These include both those employees designated as either “primarily instructional” or as “instructional combined with research/public service”. It does not include employees that have been identified by Palo Alto College as primarily performing research or public service.
| Total | Full Time | Part Time | Percent Full Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total of Instructional Employees | 275 | 140 | 135 | 51% |
| Total of Those With Faculty Status | 262 | 130 | 132 | 50% |
| Tenured Faculty | 36 | 36 | - | 100% |
| On Tenure Track | - | - | - | - |
| Not on Tenure Track | 226 | 94 | 132 | 42% |
| Without Faculty Status | 13 | 10 | 3 | 77% |
With 51% of instructors employed full time, Palo Alto College is above the national average of 47%.
At Palo Alto College, 49% of the teaching staff are part-time non-faculty or non-tenure track faculty. This is a bit below the national average of 51.4%.
Colleges often use part-time professors and adjuncts to teach courses, rather than full-time faculty. This hiring practice is primarily a way to save money amid increasingly tight budgets. However, it is a controversial practice with strong views on either side. We encourage you to understand this topic more deeply, and how the colleges you are interested in approach faculty hiring.
