Public institutions that paid their full professors the most in 2015-16 tended to be in states with high costs of living: California was the top location for high-paying doctoral institutions, and New York for master’s and associate institutions. Public baccalaureate institutions did not follow the same pattern. Half of the institutions on that top-20 list were in Pennsylvania, where the cost of living is in the middle range. In contrast to public institutions, the nonprofit and for-profit private institutions that paid their full professors the highest average salaries were geographically scattered.
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Public institutions
Doctoral
1. | U. of California at Los Angeles | $184,509 | 1,038 |
2. | U. of California at Berkeley | $175,617 | 876 |
3. | U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor | $162,846 | 1,144 |
4. | U. of California at Santa Barbara | $160,830 | 511 |
5. | U. of California at Irvine | $159,678 | 546 |
6. | U. of Virginia | $159,066 | 564 |
7. | U. of California at San Diego | $156,672 | 593 |
8. | New Jersey Institute of Technology | $156,249 | 130 |
9. | U. of Texas at Dallas | $155,808 | 234 |
10. | Rutgers U. at Newark | $151,587 | 181 |
11. | U. of Connecticut | $150,318 | 491 |
12. | U. of Maryland at College Park | $149,328 | 691 |
13. | U. of California at Merced | $148,014 | 44 |
14. | U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | $147,816 | 503 |
15. | Pennsylvania State U. at University Park | $146,466 | 812 |
16. | U. of Texas at Austin | $146,430 | 980 |
17. | U. of California at Santa Cruz | $145,017 | 290 |
18. | U. of Delaware | $144,972 | 384 |
19. | U. of California at Riverside | $144,963 | 316 |
20. | U. of Massachusetts at Amherst | $144,864 | 458 |
Master’s
1. | Pennsylvania State U.-Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies | $141,399 | 7 |
2. | U. of Baltimore | $137,304 | 55 |
3. | Rutgers U. at Camden | $130,050 | 103 |
4. | U. of South Florida-Sarasota/Manatee | $127,719 | 5 |
5. | U. of Washington at Bothell | $125,415 | 25 |
6. | City U. of New York Bernard M. Baruch College
| $121,698 | 203 |
7. | City College of City U. of New York | $121,563 | 242 |
8. | U. of South Florida at St. Petersburg
| $121,095 | 29 |
9. | Ramapo College of New Jersey | $119,862 | 70 |
10. | Arizona State U.-Polytechnic | $118,728 | 30 |
11. | Arizona State U.-West | $118,404 | 31 |
12. | Pennsylvania State U.-Harrisburg | $117,279 | 34 |
13. | Fashion Institute of Technology | $117,153 | 53 |
14. | State U. of New York Institute of Technology at Utica-Rome | $116,874 | 31 |
15. | U. of Washington at Tacoma | $116,559 | 31 |
16. | William Paterson U. of New Jersey | $114,192 | 169 |
17. | U. of Michigan at Flint | $113,904 | 39 |
18. | City U. of New York Hunter College | $113,661 | 299 |
19. | City U. of New York Herbert H. Lehman College
| $113,625 | 95 |
20. | City U. of New York Queens College | $112,995 | 212 |
Baccalaureate
1. | Pennsylvania State U. at Erie | $126,009 | 26 |
2. | Pennsylvania State U.-Schuylkill | $121,302 | 6 |
3. | U.S. Merchant Marine Academy | $117,045 | 30 |
4. | U. of New Hampshire at Manchester | $115,335 | 6 |
5. | U.S. Naval Academy
| $114,219 | 159 |
6. | U.S. Military Academy
| $113,571 | 42 |
7. | City U. of New York Medgar Evers College | $112,194 | 52 |
8. | City U. of New York, New York City College of Technology | $108,450 | 63 |
9. | Cheyney U. of Pennsylvania | $106,776 | 17 |
10. | Pennsylvania State U.-Brandywine | $106,704 | 12 |
11. | Pennsylvania State U.-Beaver | $106,569 | 4 |
12. | Nevada State College | $105,786 | 4 |
13. | Pennsylvania State U. at Altoona | $105,408 | 24 |
14. | Pennsylvania State U.-Worthington-Scranton | $104,706 | 4 |
15. | Pennsylvania State U. at York | $104,697 | 7 |
16. | Ohio State U. at Lima | $103,806 | 11 |
17. | City U. of New York York College | $103,680 | 44 |
18. | Pennsylvania State U. at Abington | $102,717 | 14 |
19. | Pennsylvania State U.-Berks | $99,153 | 21 |
20. | Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts | $98,523 | 38 |
Associate and baccalaureate/associate
1. | College of DuPage | $121,590 | 138 |
2. | Suffolk County Community College Central Administration | $115,857 | 119 |
3. | Elgin Community College | $115,317 | 56 |
4. | Pennsylvania College of Technology | $113,580 | 11 |
5. | Nassau Community College | $112,230 | 170 |
6. | City Colleges of Chicago, Harry S. Truman College | $110,403 | 4 |
7. | Rockland Community College | $109,152 | 39 |
8. | Passaic County Community College | $108,117 | 10 |
9. | City U. of New York-Queensborough Community College | $107,802 | 68 |
10. | Harper College | $107,496 | 57 |
11. | Westchester Community College | $106,101 | 56 |
12. | City U. of New York Borough of Manhattan Community College | $105,570 | 107 |
13. | Middlesex County College | $105,309 | 37 |
14. | City Colleges of Chicago, Richard J. Daley College | $104,778 | 4 |
15. | Hostos Community College-City U. of New York | $104,463 | 37 |
16. | Miami U. at Hamilton | $103,752 | 12 |
17. | City U. of New York La Guardia Community College | $103,554 | 89 |
18. | City U. of New York Bronx Community College | $103,275 | 74 |
19. | Oakton Community College | $101,331 | 105 |
20. | City U. of New York Kingsborough Community College | $101,214 | 72 |
Private nonprofit institutions
Doctoral
1. | Harvard U. | $230,292 | 996 |
2. | Stanford U. | $227,259 | 689 |
3. | U. of Chicago | $225,729 | 595 |
4. | Columbia U. | $209,475 | 747 |
5. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | $204,138 | 643 |
6. | U. of Pennsylvania | $201,978 | 602 |
7. | Princeton U. | $200,403 | 478 |
8. | Yale U. | $198,369 | 586 |
9. | New York U. | $195,939 | 861 |
10. | California Institute of Technology | $193,941 | 237 |
11. | Northwestern U. | $192,897 | 604 |
12. | Duke U. | $187,731 | 632 |
13. | Georgetown U. | $186,750 | 309 |
14. | Rice U. | $185,247 | 305 |
15. | Vanderbilt U. | $179,172 | 383 |
16. | Washington U. in St. Louis | $175,734 | 369 |
17. | Dartmouth College | $175,239 | 242 |
18. | Boston College | $173,979 | 270 |
19. | Teachers College, Columbia U. | $172,746 | 79 |
20. | U. of Notre Dame | $171,135 | 421 |
Master’s
1. | Bentley U. | $158,364 | 85 |
2. | Bryant U. | $157,509 | 71 |
3. | Santa Clara U. | $155,511 | 153 |
4. | Chapman U. | $138,096 | 127 |
5. | U. of New Haven | $125,676 | 49 |
6. | Loyola U. Maryland | $125,388 | 85 |
7. | New York Institute of Technology at Old Westbury | $125,352 | 68 |
8. | Quinnipiac U. | $124,587 | 116 |
9. | Union Graduate College | $124,245 | 4 |
10. | Touro College (N.Y.) | $123,588 | 44 |
11. | Roger Williams U. | $121,608 | 93 |
12. | Fairfield U. | $121,077 | 73 |
13. | St. Mary’s U | $121,005 | 89 |
14. | Emerson College | $120,240 | 28 |
15. | Stetson U. | $120,222 | 115 |
16. | Keck Graduate Institute | $119,133 | 19 |
17. | Trinity U. | $118,368 | 84 |
18. | Loyola Marymount U. | $117,252 | 223 |
19. | National U. | $116,838 | 102 |
20. | Seattle U. | $116,064 | 90 |
Baccalaureate
1. | Claremont McKenna College | $158,985 | 62 |
2. | Barnard College | $158,418 | 83 |
3. | U. of Richmond | $156,789 | 117 |
4. | Washington and Lee U. | $151,002 | 103 |
5. | Pomona College | $150,408 | 78 |
6. | Wellesley College | $149,940 | 108 |
7. | Amherst College | $149,760 | 93 |
8. | Swarthmore College | $146,601 | 92 |
9. | Wesleyan U. (Conn.) | $145,836 | 120 |
10. | Harvey Mudd College | $143,271 | 51 |
11. | Colgate U. | $141,219 | 105 |
12. | Bowdoin College | $139,032 | 65 |
13. | Williams College | $138,294 | 141 |
14. | Colby College | $137,187 | 69 |
15. | Lafayette College | $135,558 | 73 |
16. | Smith College | $134,811 | 160 |
17. | Hamilton College (N.Y.) | $134,271 | 88 |
18. | Scripps College | $133,407 | 33 |
19. | Vassar College | $133,083 | 94 |
20. | Bryn Mawr College | $132,669 | 57 |
Associate and baccalaureate/associate
1. | Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology | $102,636 | 12 |
2. | Johnson & Wales U. at Denver | $99,126 | 4 |
3. | Johnson & Wales U. at Charlotte (N.C.) | $98,046 | 14 |
4. | Mount Aloysius College | $71,856 | 7 |
5. | Landmark College | $69,210 | 9 |
6. | New England Institute of Technology | $67,860 | 14 |
7. | U. of Rio Grande | $64,467 | 16 |
8. | Cottey College | $62,964 | 12 |
9. | Florida College | $62,937 | 34 |
10. | Louisburg College | $59,931 | 5 |
11. | Baker College of Flint | $56,727 | 4 |
12. | U. of Northwestern Ohio | $55,656 | 5 |
13. | Delaware College of Art and Design | $55,188 | 5 |
14. | Harcum College | $53,721 | 8 |
15. | Boricua College | $52,893 | 6 |
16. | Manor College | $50,724 | 14 |
17. | Lackawanna College | $50,202 | 10 |
18. | Villa Maria College of Buffalo | $38,286 | 6 |
19. | Bacone College | $37,683 | 4 |
20. | Grace Bible College | $37,665 | 7 |
For-profit institutions
Doctoral
1. | Alliant International U. at San Diego | $97,254 | 58 |
2. | Grand Canyon U. | $75,474 | 8 |
3. | Argosy U. at Chicago | $71,037 | 5 |
4. | Argosy U. at Atlanta | $65,088 | 8 |
Master’s
1. | Post U. | $91,521 | 4 |
2. | South College (Tenn.) | $86,652 | 10 |
3. | DeVry U. of New Jersey | $77,607 | 18 |
4. | Herzing U. at Madison (Wis.) | $76,770 | 13 |
5. | Ashford U. | $74,781 | 10 |
6. | DeVry U. of Ohio | $72,009 | 15 |
7. | DeVry U. of Arizona | $69,588 | 17 |
8. | DeVry U. of Texas | $68,553 | 25 |
9. | DeVry U. of Illinois | $67,734 | 118 |
10. | DeVry U. of Georgia | $66,474 | 18 |
11. | DeVry U. of Pennsylvania | $65,646 | 4 |
12. | DeVry U. of California | $64,368 | 43 |
13. | DeVry U. of Missouri | $63,414 | 4 |
14. | DeVry U. of Florida | $62,865 | 15 |
15. | American Public U. system | $54,045 | 49 |
16. | Sullivan U. | $51,642 | 16 |
17. | Full Sail U. | $44,766 | 464 |
18. | Bob Jones U. | $42,534 | 64 |
19. | Salem International U. | $33,390 | 8 |
Baccalaureate
1. | DigiPen Institute of Technology | $82,377 | 8 |
2. | Herzing U. at Atlanta | $80,550 | 5 |
3. | Five Towns College | $58,680 | 6 |
4. | Waldorf College | $54,729 | 8 |
5. | Central Penn College | $47,529 | 37 |
Associate and baccalaureate/associate
1. | Akron Institute of Herzing U. | $79,497 | 4 |
2. | Herzing U. at Kenosha (Wis.) | $63,882 | 10 |
3. | ECPI College of Technology | $62,910 | 20 |
4. | College of Westchester (N.Y.) | $59,166 | 6 |
5. | Wade College Dallas Market Center | $42,534 | 7 |
6. | Long Island Business Institute | $33,660 | 31 |
7. | Madison Media Institute-Rockford Career College | $33,606 | 23 |
8. | Eastwick College at Hackensack (N.J.) | $29,583 | 4 |
9. | Hohokus School-RETS Nutley | $26,595 | 5 |
10. | Taylor Business Institute (Ill.) | $21,744 | 7 |
Note: Figures are based on data from all Title IV-participating, degree-granting institutions in the United States. The data cover full-time, nonmedical instructional staff (who are either engaged primarily in instruction or are engaged in instruction combined with research and/or public service) as of November 1, 2015. The salaries are adjusted to a standard nine-month work year. Institutions with fewer than four full professors are excluded. Categories are based on the 2015 Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education. For categories in which a limited number of institutions employ full-time professors, fewer than 20 institutions are listed. See The Chronicle’s complete database of faculty salaries at data.chronicle.com.