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I wrote an essay and returned it to my teacher who told me that it was perfect except for that one mistake with the usage of there are:

There are currently 192 218 546 ways to set up..."

She marked it as incorrect. She told me that I should use "is" in lieu of "are".

As I am pretty sure that I have it the right way, I decided to ask the community here this question. I find this community is the most accurate and by far the friendliest.

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    I'd have written "there are" just like you. Then again, I'm a non-native speaker.
    – Centaurus
    Commented Oct 9, 2014 at 19:55
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    Welcome to ELU. You're correct. "There are currently (N>1) ways to set up..." is correct. "There is one way" and "there is no way"... (I am AmE.) Since you're here, please have a look at the site tour and visit the help center for guidance on how to use this site. Again, welcome!
    – anongoodnurse
    Commented Oct 9, 2014 at 19:58
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    Your teacher does not know the rules of English grammar. If you had written There's, that would've been correct. But There is is uncontracted and therefore should be pluralized to There are.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Oct 9, 2014 at 19:59
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    @medica is proving to be a great hostess for the site. Great.
    – Centaurus
    Commented Oct 9, 2014 at 21:47

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You were right originally — you use are when talking about a plural, and ways is clearly a plural.

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