The median pay for full-time instructors in 2017-18 was only slightly higher at public doctoral institutions than it was at public associate and baccalaureate/associate institutions. Even in the same metropolitan area, average salaries at doctoral institutions could vary widely. Northeastern University, in Boston, for instance, paid instructors an average salary of $82,568 that year, while nearby Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology paid only about $65,000. See The Chronicle’s database of faculty salaries for data on more colleges.
Public institutions
Doctoral
| Rank | Institution | Average salary | Number of instructors |
| 1. | Ohio State U. | $142,330 | 7 |
| 2. | U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | $134,917 | 5 |
| 3. | New Jersey Institute of Technology | $84,223 | 5 |
| 4. | Purdue U. at West Lafayette | $83,193 | 5 |
| 5. | Colorado School of Mines | $80,943 | 65 |
| 6. | U. of Illinois at Chicago | $78,437 | 100 |
| 7. | U. of Massachusetts at Amherst | $76,011 | 8 |
| 8. | U. of Connecticut | $75,875 | 49 |
| 9. | U. of Wyoming | $72,376 | 16 |
| 10. | U. of Delaware | $72,328 | 95 |
| 11. | U. of North Texas | $70,119 | 23 |
| 12. | Delaware State U. | $69,698 | 9 |
| 13. | Wayne State U. | $69,505 | 34 |
| 14. | Stony Brook U. | $68,354 | 10 |
| 15. | Oakland U. | $68,347 | 58 |
| 16. | U. of Vermont | $67,364 | 12 |
| 17. | Cleveland State U. | $67,318 | 11 |
| 18. | U. of Alaska at Fairbanks | $66,935 | 29 |
| 19. | U. of Wisconsin at Madison | $66,743 | 33 |
| 20. | Montclair State U. | $66,634 | 4 |
| | Median for 171 institutions | $52,909 | 53 |
Master’s
| Rank | Institution | Average salary | Number of instructors |
| 1. | U. of North Texas at Dallas | $74,504 | 10 |
| 2. | U. of Northern Iowa | $70,662 | 77 |
| 3. | College of New Jersey | $68,405 | 5 |
| 4. | Bowie State U. | $67,622 | 9 |
| 5. | William Paterson U. of New Jersey | $64,739 | 13 |
| 6. | Longwood U. | $64,257 | 9 |
| 7. | Salem State U. | $64,177 | 8 |
| 8. | Salisbury U. | $63,749 | 8 |
| 9. | Pennsylvania State U.-Harrisburg | $63,520 | 27 |
| 10. | The Citadel | $62,590 | 15 |
| | Median for 185 institutions | $49,988 | 20 |
Baccalaureate
| Rank | Institution | Average salary | Number of instructors |
| 1. | Pennsylvania State U.-Fayette | $70,793 | 9 |
| 2. | U. of Hawaii-West Oahu | $66,374 | 12 |
| 3. | Pennsylvania State U.-Worthington-Scranton | $64,900 | 6 |
| 4. | Pennsylvania State U. at Abington | $64,015 | 5 |
| 5. | U. of Minnesota at Crookston | $63,882 | 4 |
| | Median for 70 institutions | $49,062 | 9 |
Associate and baccalaureate/associate
| Rank | Institution | Average salary | Number of instructors |
| 1. | Evergreen Valley College | $114,040 | 112 |
| 2. | MiraCosta Community College District | $112,564 | 195 |
| 3. | San Jose City College | $106,266 | 114 |
| 4. | Ohlone College | $99,617 | 130 |
| 5. | College of Lake County | $98,030 | 198 |
| | Median for 669 colleges | $52,294 | 35 |
•••
Private nonprofit institutions
Doctoral
| Rank | Institution | Average salary | Number of instructors |
| 1. | Southern Methodist U. | $114,008 | 15 |
| 2. | Fordham U. | $101,088 | 96 |
| 3. | Princeton U. | $86,789 | 22 |
| 4. | Washington U. in St. Louis | $86,512 | 51 |
| 5. | Hofstra U. | $83,959 | 4 |
| 6. | U. of San Francisco | $83,396 | 16 |
| 7. | Northeastern U. | $82,568 | 365 |
| 8. | U. of St. Thomas (Minn.) | $75,701 | 4 |
| 9. | Belmont U. | $74,917 | 31 |
| 10. | Yeshiva U. | $74,645 | 98 |
| 11. | American U. | $73,742 | 307 |
| 12. | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | $73,570 | 143 |
| 13. | Quinnipiac U. | $73,297 | 14 |
| 14. | Boston College | $72,992 | 53 |
| 15. | DePaul U. | $72,959 | 177 |
| 16. | Tufts U. | $72,766 | 19 |
| 17. | Texas Christian U. | $71,768 | 91 |
| 18. | Drexel U. | $71,593 | 505 |
| 19. | Pace U. | $71,511 | 4 |
| 20. | Adelphi U. | $69,974 | 6 |
| | Median for 148 institutions | $55,800 | 15 |
Master’s
| Rank | Institution | Average salary | Number of instructors |
| 1. | Stetson U. | $85,708 | 8 |
| 2. | Mercy College | $82,135 | 12 |
| 3. | Molloy College | $77,942 | 11 |
| 4. | Presidio Graduate School | $76,875 | 4 |
| 5. | Fairfield U. | $72,172 | 17 |
| 6. | Milwaukee School of Engineering | $71,635 | 8 |
| 7. | Suffolk U. | $71,470 | 57 |
| 8. | Johnson & Wales U. (R.I.) | $70,750 | 24 |
| 9. | Providence College | $70,137 | 18 |
| 10. | Fairleigh Dickinson U. | $69,905 | 4 |
| | Median for 276 institutions | $48,421 | 6 |
Baccalaureate
| Rank | Institution | Average salary | Number of instructors |
| 1. | Williams College | $92,413 | 6 |
| 2. | U. of Puget Sound | $75,374 | 23 |
| 3. | Barnard College | $69,411 | 39 |
| 4. | Colgate U. | $67,779 | 36 |
| 5. | Lafayette College | $67,589 | 10 |
| | Median for 282 institutions | $45,745 | 5 |
Associate and baccalaureate/associate
| Rank | Institution | Average salary | Number of instructors |
| 1. | Commonwealth Technical Institute | $54,048 | 22 |
| 2. | Dunwoody College of Technology | $50,784 | 46 |
| 3. | New England Institute of Technology | $50,758 | 21 |
| 4. | Johnson College | $49,919 | 19 |
| 5. | Hesston College | $46,978 | 30 |
| | Median for 38 institutions | $43,223 | 10 |
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 and who are ranked as instructors. Salaries are adjusted to a standard nine-month work year. Institutions with at least one but fewer than four instructors were excluded from the rankings but were included in the calculations of the median average salaries and number of instructors. “Instructor” is an academic rank designated by the institution. It generally falls just below the rank of assistant professor. At associate institutions, the academic rank with the largest share of full-time instructional staff members tends to be “instructor.” At doctoral, master’s, and baccalaureate institutions, the number of full-time instructors tends to be lower than the numbers of professors, associate professors, and assistant professors. Questions or comments on the Chronicle List should be sent to Ruth Hammond.
Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data