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News

Colleges With the Highest Average Pay for Full Professors, 2016-17

Almanac 2018 August 19, 2018

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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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.


Return to the Almanac home page, or go to the Profession, Students, Finance, or States section. To purchase a copy of the Almanac in print or as a downloadable interactive PDF, visit the Chronicle Store. Help guide us to give you the data you need by taking our 10-minute online Almanac survey.


Public institutions

Doctoral

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber
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

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber
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

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber
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

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber
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

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber
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

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber
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

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber
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

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber
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

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber
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

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber
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

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber
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

RankInstitutionSalaryNumber
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>

A version of this article appeared in the August 24, 2018, issue.
Read other items in The Profession: Almanac 2018.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
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