Many of the public doctoral institutions that paid their full professors the most in 2016-17 were in cities well known for their high costs of living, but others, like the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the University of Virginia, were not. More than half the public institutions that paid their full professors the highest average salaries were in New York, Pennsylvania, and California. In contrast, the nonprofit and for-profit private institutions that paid the most were more geographically scattered.
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Public institutions
Doctoral
1. | U. of California at Los Angeles | $192,310 | 1,054 |
2. | U. of California at Berkeley | $181,996 | 867 |
3. | U. of California at Santa Barbara | $169,424 | 521 |
4. | U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor | $167,364 | 1,157 |
5. | U. of Virginia | $165,319 | 564 |
6. | U. of California at Irvine | $165,102 | 566 |
7. | U. of California at San Diego | $162,410 | 606 |
8. | New Jersey Institute of Technology | $160,468 | 133 |
9. | U. of Texas at Dallas | $159,642 | 235 |
10. | Rutgers U. at Newark | $159,247 | 183 |
11. | U. of Maryland at College Park | $154,774 | 713 |
12. | U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | $152,088 | 604 |
13. | U. of California at Riverside | $151,687 | 323 |
14. | U. of California at Santa Cruz | $151,453 | 286 |
15. | U. of California at Davis | $150,951 | 812 |
16. | U. of Massachusetts at Amherst | $150,082 | 454 |
17. | U. of California at Merced | $149,099 | 49 |
18. | U. of Connecticut | $148,599 | 489 |
19. | Pennsylvania State U. at University Park | $148,316 | 895 |
20. | U. of Houston | $147,941 | 395 |
Master’s
1. | Pennsylvania State U.-Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies | $141,452 | 7 |
2. | U. of Baltimore | $137,051 | 50 |
3. | Rutgers U. at Camden | $135,185 | 104 |
4. | U. of South Florida-Sarasota/Manatee | $127,720 | 5 |
5. | U. of Washington at Bothell | $123,222 | 30 |
6. | City U. of New York Bernard M. Baruch College | $121,620 | 201 |
7. | Arizona State U.-West | $121,241 | 34 |
8. | City College of City U. of New York | $120,878 | 239 |
9. | U. of Washington at Tacoma | $120,536 | 40 |
10. | Arizona State U.-Polytechnic | $119,390 | 28 |
11. | U. of South Florida at St. Petersburg | $117,219 | 30 |
12. | Pennsylvania State U.-Harrisburg | $115,949 | 29 |
13. | City U. of New York Hunter College | $114,180 | 287 |
14. | U. of Michigan at Flint | $113,963 | 42 |
15. | City U. of New York Queens College | $113,345 | 213 |
16. | State U. of New York Polytechnic Institute | $113,311 | 33 |
17. | City U. of New York Brooklyn College | $113,133 | 198 |
18. | City U. of New York John Jay College of Criminal Justice | $112,908 | 109 |
19. | City U. of New York Herbert H. Lehman College | $112,338 | 93 |
20. | William Paterson U. of New Jersey | $112,082 | 175 |
Baccalaureate
1. | Pennsylvania State U. at Erie | $125,671 | 30 |
2. | Pennsylvania State U.-Schuylkill | $125,618 | 5 |
3. | U.S. Merchant Marine Academy | $116,544 | 30 |
4. | City U. of New York Medgar Evers College | $112,833 | 52 |
5. | Pennsylvania State U. at Abington | $110,450 | 16 |
6. | U. of New Hampshire at Manchester | $110,268 | 4 |
7. | Cheyney U. of Pennsylvania | $109,013 | 18 |
8. | Pennsylvania State U.-New Kensington | $108,797 | 4 |
9. | Pennsylvania State U.-Beaver | $108,788 | 4 |
10. | Pennsylvania State U.-Brandywine | $108,622 | 13 |
11. | Pennsylvania State U. at York | $107,865 | 7 |
12. | California State U. Maritime Academy | $107,699 | 16 |
13. | Pennsylvania State U. at Altoona | $107,575 | 26 |
14. | Pennsylvania State U.-Worthington-Scranton | $106,848 | 4 |
15. | City U. of New York, New York City College of Technology | $106,769 | 72 |
16. | Ohio State U. at Lima | $104,408 | 11 |
17. | Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts | $103,974 | 37 |
18. | City U. of New York York College | $103,676 | 45 |
19. | Pennsylvania State U.-Berks | $100,789 | 22 |
20. | U. of Hawaii-West Oahu | $99,810 | 23 |
Associate and baccalaureate/associate
1. | College of DuPage | $124,512 | 132 |
2. | Elgin Community College | $118,099 | 55 |
3. | Pennsylvania College of Technology | $117,319 | 11 |
4. | Nassau Community College | $112,400 | 152 |
5. | Miami U. at Hamilton (Ohio) | $111,708 | 9 |
6. | Harper College | $110,153 | 57 |
7. | Rockland Community College | $109,144 | 31 |
8. | City Colleges of Chicago, Harry S. Truman College | $108,820 | 6 |
9. | Westchester Community College | $108,778 | 51 |
10. | Passaic County Community College | $108,114 | 9 |
11. | City U. of New York-Queensborough Community College | $107,644 | 71 |
12. | City Colleges of Chicago, Richard J. Daley College | $107,400 | 4 |
13. | Middlesex County College | $105,199 | 38 |
14. | City U. of New York Borough of Manhattan Community College | $104,773 | 107 |
15. | City U. of New York Bronx Community College | $104,314 | 75 |
16. | Hostos Community College-City U. of New York | $104,276 | 38 |
17. | City U. of New York La Guardia Community College | $103,516 | 92 |
18. | Suffolk County Community College Central Administration | $103,175 | 105 |
19. | Pennsylvania State U. at Mont Alto | $102,843 | 4 |
20. | City U. of New York Kingsborough Community College | $102,664 | 72 |
•••
Private nonprofit institutions
Doctoral
1. | Stanford U. | $234,549 | 690 |
2. | U. of Chicago | $224,812 | 598 |
3. | Harvard U. | $221,379 | 1,013 |
4. | Yale U. | $216,187 | 608 |
5. | Columbia U. | $215,094 | 782 |
6. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | $213,749 | 645 |
7. | U. of Pennsylvania | $209,219 | 608 |
8. | Princeton U. | $206,498 | 476 |
9. | Northwestern U. | $200,265 | 603 |
10. | California Institute of Technology | $198,916 | 243 |
11. | Georgetown U. | $194,903 | 316 |
12. | New York U. | $190,918 | 844 |
13. | Rice U. | $189,162 | 310 |
14. | Duke U. | $188,200 | 654 |
15. | Dartmouth College | $186,973 | 247 |
16. | Washington U. in St. Louis | $180,210 | 386 |
17. | Boston College | $177,855 | 281 |
18. | Vanderbilt U. | $177,005 | 389 |
19. | Teachers College, Columbia U. | $176,518 | 84 |
20. | Brown U. | $175,821 | 380 |
Master’s
1. | Bentley U. | $165,055 | 83 |
2. | Santa Clara U. | $157,047 | 153 |
3. | Chapman U. | $138,779 | 148 |
4. | U. of New Haven | $132,537 | 49 |
5. | Quinnipiac U. | $127,711 | 114 |
6. | Loyola Marymount U. | $126,440 | 230 |
7. | Loyola U. Maryland | $125,966 | 87 |
8. | Roger Williams U. | $125,874 | 97 |
9. | New York Institute of Technology | $125,763 | 70 |
10. | Fairfield U. | $123,404 | 76 |
11. | Saint Joseph’s U. (Pa.) | $122,814 | 68 |
12. | Stetson U. | $122,766 | 111 |
13. | Trinity U. | $122,206 | 87 |
14. | St. Mary’s U. (Tex.) | $121,831 | 90 |
15. | Bryant U. | $121,647 | 70 |
16. | Manhattan College | $121,218 | 62 |
17. | Gonzaga U. | $121,215 | 110 |
18. | Molloy College | $119,156 | 55 |
19. | Monmouth U. | $117,190 | 42 |
20. | St. Thomas U. | $116,705 | 44 |
Baccalaureate
1. | Barnard College | $164,034 | 85 |
2. | Claremont McKenna College | $161,447 | 64 |
3. | U. of Richmond | $160,473 | 116 |
4. | Pomona College | $154,160 | 81 |
5. | Amherst College | $151,598 | 94 |
6. | Wellesley College | $151,049 | 112 |
7. | Washington and Lee U. | $149,803 | 112 |
8. | Wesleyan U. (Conn.) | $149,445 | 121 |
9. | Swarthmore College | $149,305 | 92 |
10. | Harvey Mudd College | $148,052 | 51 |
11. | Colgate U. | $142,812 | 109 |
12. | Bowdoin College | $142,669 | 61 |
13. | Williams College | $141,232 | 151 |
14. | Lafayette College | $140,775 | 73 |
15. | Colby College | $137,445 | 68 |
16. | Smith College | $136,961 | 150 |
17. | Scripps College | $136,482 | 34 |
18. | Bryn Mawr College | $135,286 | 56 |
19. | Vassar College | $135,168 | 95 |
20. | Occidental College | $132,536 | 72 |
Associate and baccalaureate/associate
1. | Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology | $105,718 | 12 |
2. | Johnson & Wales U. at Denver | $102,100 | 4 |
3. | Johnson & Wales U. at Charlotte (N.C.) | $97,907 | 19 |
4. | Mount Aloysius College | $72,237 | 11 |
5. | New England Institute of Technology | $70,050 | 12 |
6. | Cottey College | $65,020 | 12 |
7. | U. of Rio Grande | $64,830 | 19 |
8. | Florida College | $61,539 | 34 |
9. | Baker College of Flint | $59,024 | 4 |
10. | Manor College | $58,753 | 13 |
11. | U. of Northwestern Ohio | $55,657 | 5 |
12. | Lackawanna College | $51,233 | 6 |
13. | Louisburg College | $49,735 | 4 |
14. | Harcum College | $48,821 | 10 |
15. | Grace Bible College | $46,012 | 6 |
16. | Villa Maria College of Buffalo | $45,481 | 6 |
17. | Boricua College | $42,105 | 6 |
18. | Bacone College | $40,538 | 4 |
19. | College of St. Mary Magdalen | $33,750 | 4 |
20. | Clinton College | $28,948 | 12 |
•••
For-profit institutions
Doctoral
1. | Alliant International U. at San Diego | $97,492 | 42 |
2. | Grand Canyon U. | $75,730 | 7 |
3. | Argosy U. at Chicago | $71,036 | 5 |
4. | Argosy U. at Atlanta | $65,205 | 7 |
Master’s
1. | South U. at Savannah (Ga.) | $109,516 | 4 |
2. | Post U. | $94,140 | 4 |
3. | South College (Tenn.) | $81,340 | 9 |
4. | DeVry U. of New Jersey | $81,165 | 13 |
5. | DeVry U. of Ohio | $75,305 | 8 |
6. | DeVry U. of Georgia | $74,281 | 6 |
7. | DeVry U. of Arizona | $74,012 | 9 |
8. | DeVry U. of Texas | $69,701 | 6 |
9. | DeVry U. of Florida | $69,089 | 7 |
10. | DeVry U. of Illinois | $68,810 | 87 |
11. | DeVry U. of California | $68,614 | 29 |
12. | DeVry U. of Pennsylvania | $66,100 | 4 |
13. | Ashford U. | $63,484 | 15 |
14. | Herzing U. at Madison (Wis.) | $63,001 | 9 |
15. | American Public U. system | $55,525 | 42 |
16. | Stratford U. | $54,272 | 129 |
17. | Sullivan U. | $49,299 | 20 |
18. | Full Sail U. | $45,419 | 455 |
19. | Bob Jones U.* | $44,121 | 61 |
20. | Salem International U. | $33,186 | 12 |
Baccalaureate
1. | DigiPen Institute of Technology | $82,134 | 7 |
2. | Five Towns College | $65,827 | 4 |
3. | Herzing U. at Atlanta | $61,366 | 5 |
4. | Central Penn College | $60,695 | 7 |
5. | Waldorf College | $56,372 | 8 |
Associate and baccalaureate/associate
1. | ECPI College of Technology | $63,451 | 19 |
2. | College of Westchester (N.Y.) | $56,535 | 4 |
3. | Virginia Marti College of Art & Design | $47,700 | 5 |
4. | Wade College | $43,910 | 7 |
* Bob Jones University announced in 2017 that it had regained nonprofit status, after having lost it 34 years earlier because of its ban on interracial dating and marriage.
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, 2016. 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 here. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to the Almanac editor
Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data</small></p>