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Contract Lengths of Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Members, Fall 2015

Almanac 2017 August 13, 2017

Of the more than 900,000 faculty members in the United States who were not tenured or on the tenure track in the fall of 2015, or who worked at institutions with no tenure system, nearly half were on contracts whose duration was less than a year. Non-tenure-track faculty members at two-year and four-year for-profit institutions were more likely than those in other sectors to have multiyear contracts. Such faculty members at two-year public institutions were the least likely to have multiyear contracts.

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Of the more than 900,000 faculty members in the United States who were not tenured or on the tenure track in the fall of 2015, or who worked at institutions with no tenure system, nearly half were on contracts whose duration was less than a year. Non-tenure-track faculty members at two-year and four-year for-profit institutions were more likely than those in other sectors to have multiyear contracts. Such faculty members at two-year public institutions were the least likely to have multiyear contracts.


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Sector Status Multiyear contract Percent on multiyear contract Annual contract Percent on annual contract Less-than-annual contract Percent on less-than-annual contract All faculty not on tenure track/no tenure system Percent not on tenure track
4-year public institutions full-time 46,310 14.2% 99,307 30.4% 8,465 2.6% 154,082 47.2%
4-year public institutions part-time 15,126 4.6% 40,275 12.3% 116,994 35.8% 172,395 52.8%
4-year public institutions total 61,436 18.8% 139,582 42.8% 125,459 38.4% 326,477 100.0%
4-year private nonprofit institutions full-time 39,791 15.5% 64,864 25.3% 3,923 1.5% 108,578 42.3%
4-year private nonprofit institutions part-time 8,429 3.3% 27,256 10.6% 112,465 43.8% 148,150 57.7%
4-year private nonprofit institutions total 48,220 18.8% 92,120 35.9% 116,388 45.3% 256,728 100.0%
4-year for-profit institutions full-time 10,186 13.3% 2,307 3.0% 1,252 1.6% 13,745 18.0%
4-year for-profit institutions part-time 16,566 21.7% 17,954 23.5% 28,077 36.8% 62,597 82.0%
4-year for-profit institutions total 26,752 35.0% 20,261 26.5% 29,329 38.4% 76,342 100.0%
2-year public institutions full-time 6,508 2.7% 43,475 18.1% 5,740 2.4% 55,723 23.2%
2-year public institutions part-time 4,752 2.0% 15,040 6.3% 164,177 68.5% 183,969 76.8%
2-year public institutions total 11,260 4.7% 58,515 24.4% 169,917 70.9% 239,692 100.0%
2-year private nonprofit institutions full-time 743 27.6% 304 11.3% 756 28.1% 1,803 67.0%
2-year private nonprofit institutions part-time 176 6.5% 75 2.8% 636 23.6% 887 33.0%
2-year private nonprofit institutions total 919 34.2% 379 14.1% 1,392 51.7% 2,690 100.0%
2-year for-profit institutions full-time 4,365 33.5% 499 3.8% 700 5.4% 5,564 42.7%
2-year for-profit institutions part-time 4,044 31.1% 213 1.6% 3,196 24.6% 7,453 57.3%
2-year for-profit institutions total 8,409 64.6% 712 5.5% 3,896 29.9% 13,017 100.0%
All institutions full-time 107,903 11.8% 210,756 23.0% 20,836 2.3% 339,495 37.1%
All institutions part-time 49,093 5.4% 100,813 11.0% 425,545 46.5% 575,451 62.9%
All institutions total 156,996 17.2% 311,569 34.1% 446,381 48.8% 914,946 100.0%

Note: The data cover full- and part-time medical and nonmedical staff who perform faculty duties like instruction, research, and/or public service at 4,584 degree-granting four-year and two-year institutions in the United States that are eligible to participate in the Title IV federal student-aid program, and who have neither tenured nor tenure-track status, or who work at colleges with no tenure system. Medical schools are counted in the data. Non-tenure-track faculty members include adjuncts.

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

A version of this article appeared in the August 18, 2017, issue.
Read other items in The Profession.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
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