More than 45 percent of all non-tenure-track faculty members worked part time and on less-than-annual contracts in the fall of 2017. More than two-thirds of non-tenure-track faculty members at two-year public institutions held that status, a significantly higher share than in any other sector. 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.
| Sector | Employment status | Multiyear contract | Percent | Annual contract | Percent | Less-than-annual contract | Percent | All faculty not on tenure track/no tenure system | Percent |
| 4-year public institutions | Full-time | 53,699 | 15.5% | 101,845 | 29.4% | 7,715 | 2.2% | 163,259 | 47.2% |
| Part-time | 21,726 | 6.3% | 40,497 | 11.7% | 120,537 | 34.8% | 182,760 | 52.8% |
| Total | 75,425 | 21.8% | 142,342 | 41.1% | 128,252 | 37.1% | 346,019 | 100.0% |
| 4-year private nonprofit institutions | Full-time | 48,226 | 18.3% | 62,030 | 23.6% | 3,658 | 1.4% | 113,914 | 43.3% |
| Part-time | 14,058 | 5.3% | 22,232 | 8.5% | 112,849 | 42.9% | 149,139 | 56.7% |
| Total | 62,284 | 23.7% | 84,262 | 32.0% | 116,507 | 44.3% | 263,053 | 100.0% |
| 4-year for-profit institutions | Full-time | 9,335 | 14.8% | 1,516 | 2.4% | 534 | 0.8% | 11,385 | 18.0% |
| Part-time | 26,042 | 41.2% | 1,529 | 2.4% | 24,239 | 38.4% | 51,810 | 82.0% |
| Total | 35,377 | 56.0% | 3,045 | 4.8% | 24,773 | 39.2% | 63,195 | 100.0% |
| 2-year public institutions | Full-time | 7,787 | 3.5% | 39,340 | 17.8% | 5,096 | 2.3% | 52,223 | 23.7% |
| Part-time | 9,984 | 4.5% | 9,126 | 4.1% | 149,302 | 67.7% | 168,412 | 76.3% |
| Total | 17,771 | 8.1% | 48,466 | 22.0% | 154,398 | 70.0% | 220,635 | 100.0% |
| 2-year private nonprofit institutions | Full-time | 565 | 28.5% | 336 | 17.0% | 42 | 2.1% | 943 | 47.6% |
| Part-time | 261 | 13.2% | 96 | 4.8% | 680 | 34.3% | 1,037 | 52.4% |
| Total | 826 | 41.7% | 432 | 21.8% | 722 | 36.5% | 1,980 | 100.0% |
| 2-year for-profit institutions | Full-time | 3,854 | 37.6% | 218 | 2.1% | 455 | 4.4% | 4,527 | 44.2% |
| Part-time | 3,220 | 31.4% | 122 | 1.2% | 2,383 | 23.2% | 5,725 | 55.8% |
| Total | 7,074 | 69.0% | 340 | 3.3% | 2,838 | 27.7% | 10,252 | 100.0% |
| All institutions | Full-time | 123,466 | 13.6% | 205,285 | 22.7% | 17,500 | 1.9% | 346,251 | 38.3% |
| Part-time | 75,291 | 8.3% | 73,602 | 8.1% | 409,990 | 45.3% | 558,883 | 61.7% |
| Total | 198,757 | 22.0% | 278,887 | 30.8% | 427,490 | 47.2% | 905,134 | 100.0% |
Note: The data cover medical and nonmedical staff who perform faculty duties like instruction, research, and/or public service at 4,277 degree-granting 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. Employees with multiyear contracts include those with continuing contracts or indefinite at-will employment agreements. Non-tenure-track faculty members include adjuncts. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to Ruth Hammond.
Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data
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