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Colleges With the Highest Average Pay for Assistant Professors, 2017-18

By  Chronicle Staff
October 6, 2019

Four public doctoral institutions and one public master’s institution paid their assistant professors an average adjusted nine-month salary of more than $100,000 a year in 2017-18. Salaries over $100,000 were more common at private nonprofit doctoral institutions, with all 20 of the highest-paying colleges in that category providing average salaries in the six figures. Among all public institutions that were ranked highest for their average salaries for assistant professors, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign employed the most professors at that rank, with each having more than 600. Of the highest-ranked private nonprofit institutions, Cornell University and Boston University employed the most assistant professors, with each having more than 300. See The Chronicle’s database of faculty salaries to see what faculty members of varying ranks are paid at other institutions.

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Four public doctoral institutions and one public master’s institution paid their assistant professors an average adjusted nine-month salary of more than $100,000 a year in 2017-18. Salaries over $100,000 were more common at private nonprofit doctoral institutions, with all 20 of the highest-paying colleges in that category providing average salaries in the six figures. Among all public institutions that were ranked highest for their average salaries for assistant professors, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign employed the most professors at that rank, with each having more than 600. Of the highest-ranked private nonprofit institutions, Cornell University and Boston University employed the most assistant professors, with each having more than 300. See The Chronicle’s database of faculty salaries to see what faculty members of varying ranks are paid at other institutions.

Public institutions

Doctoral

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber of assistant professors
1. U. of Texas at Dallas $111,599 136
2. U. of California at Berkeley $107,639 263
3. U. of California at Los Angeles $103,811 314
4. U. of Texas at Austin $101,404 320
5. U. of Washington $99,898 360
6. U. of California at San Diego $97,232 251
7. Rutgers U. at Newark $96,581 165
8. U. of California at Irvine $96,111 177
9. U. of California at Santa Cruz $95,296 126
10. U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill $94,388 263
11. Georgia Institute of Technology $94,081 166
12. U. of Maryland at College Park $93,998 326
13. U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor $93,799 634
14. U. of California at Davis $93,574 321
15. U. of California at Santa Barbara $92,939 163
16. U. of Houston $92,456 254
17. U. of California at Merced $92,426 108
18. U. of Massachusetts at Lowell $92,393 139
19. U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign $92,354 601
20. Colorado School of Mines $91,377 61
Median for 212 institutions $74,598 185

Master’s

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber of assistant professors
1. City U. of New York Bernard M. Baruch College $109,597 112
2. U. of Washington at Bothell $96,686 65
3. Pennsylvania State U.-Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies $96,257 14
4. City U. of New York Hunter College $87,226 87
5. California State U. at Fullerton $86,806 234
6. City U. of New York Brooklyn College $86,668 111
7. San Francisco State U. $86,107 171
8. U. of Washington at Tacoma $85,654 55
9. San Jose State U. $85,195 217
10. City U. of New York Herbert H. Lehman College $84,947 97
11. California State U. at Los Angeles $84,433 151
12. California State U.-Channel Islands $84,090 67
13. City U. of New York John Jay College of Criminal Justice $84,041 87
14. City U. of New York Queens College $83,665 89
15. City U. of New York College of Staten Island $83,579 90
Median for 247 institutions $63,835 73

Baccalaureate

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber of assistant professors
1. City U. of New York, York College $81,308 43
2. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy $78,858 19
3. U. of New Hampshire at Manchester $77,941 12
4. California State U. Maritime Academy $77,913 18
5. Pennsylvania State U. at Abington $77,035 40
Median for 86 institutions $59,054 29

Associate and baccalaureate/associate

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber of assistant professors
1. Pennsylvania College of Technology $92,587 87
2. City U. of New York Medgar Evers College $82,910 48
3. City U. of New York, New York City College of Technology $82,597 178
4. Antelope Valley College $78,654 6
5. Ohio State U. at Newark $76,801 11
Median for 398 institutions $54,524 21

•••

Private nonprofit institutions

Doctoral

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber of assistant professors
1. U. of Pennsylvania $130,466 246
2. Stanford U. $129,641 221
3. California Institute of Technology $128,314 44
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology $123,897 164
5. Harvard U. $121,950 208
6. Columbia U. $118,637 224
7. Georgetown U. $115,225 96
8. U. of Chicago $115,056 281
9. Northwestern U. $114,013 250
10. Northeastern U. $112,211 181
11. Cornell U. $112,164 341
12. Washington U. in St. Louis $110,180 171
13. Yale U. $109,530 202
14. Boston College $109,323 195
15. Rice U. $107,036 105
16. U. of Notre Dame $107,025 192
17. Claremont Graduate U. $106,117 10
18. Boston U. $103,964 321
19. Princeton U. $103,703 195
20. Southern Methodist U. $103,662 97
Median for 177 institutions $72,923 99

Master’s

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber of assistant professors
1. Bentley U. $117,620 42
2. Suffolk U. $107,554 60
3. New York Institute of Technology $91,356 71
4. Keck Graduate Institute $90,626 20
5. Saint Mary’s College of California $88,669 63
6. Bryant U. $87,979 13
7. Saint Joseph’s U. (Pa.) $87,078 80
8. Rider U. $85,399 43
9. Molloy College $85,005 70
10. Fairfield U. $84,675 84
Median for 339 institutions $57,958 34

Baccalaureate

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber of assistant professors
1. Pomona College $93,674 31
2. U. of Richmond $90,999 85
3. Wesleyan U. (Conn.) $89,916 74
4. Barnard College $89,599 38
5. Claremont McKenna College $88,002 51
6. Wellesley College $87,731 50
7. Colgate U. $86,483 75
8. Williams College $85,184 69
9. Vassar College $85,040 39
10. Harvey Mudd College $84,538 30
Median for 352 institutions $54,630 25

Associate and baccalaureate/associate

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber of assistant professors
1. Johnson & Wales U. at Charlotte (N.C.) $74,884 21
2. New England Institute of Technology $56,443 57
3. Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology $56,280 12
4. Dunwoody College of Technology $54,830 40
5. Dean College $53,880 15
Median for 24 institutions $48,793 15

Note: Figures are based on data from degree-granting public or private nonprofit institutions in the United States that are eligible to participate in federal Title IV financial-aid programs and that fall into the following 2018 Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education: baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral for four-year institutions, and associate or baccalaureate/associate for two- and four-year institutions combined. The data, which are current as of November 1, 2017, cover full-time, nonmedical staff members who are engaged primarily in instruction. Salaries are adjusted to a standard nine-month work year. Institutions with fewer than four assistant professors and for-profit institutions are excluded. Questions or comments on the Chronicle List should be sent to Ruth Hammond.

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Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data

A version of this article appeared in the October 11, 2019, issue.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
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