> Skip to content
FEATURED:
  • The Evolution of Race in Admissions
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
Sign In
ADVERTISEMENT
News
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Show more sharing options
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Copy Link URLCopied!
  • Print

Faculty Pay Remains Flat at Public Colleges, Edges Up at Private Colleges

By  Jeffrey Brainard
March 7, 2011

Amid a still-recovering economy and tight state finances, faculty members at public colleges saw no increase in pay this year, on average, for the second year in a row, a survey has found. Private-college faculty members did slightly better, receiving an average raise of 2 percent, which kept their pay on pace with inflation.

Those results come from an annual survey released this week by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. The association reported on salary levels at 812 four-year public and private institutions in the 2010-11 academic year.

We’re sorry. Something went wrong.

We are unable to fully display the content of this page.

The most likely cause of this is a content blocker on your computer or network. Please make sure your computer, VPN, or network allows javascript and allows content to be delivered from c950.chronicle.com and chronicle.blueconic.net.

Once javascript and access to those URLs are allowed, please refresh this page. You may then be asked to log in, create an account if you don't already have one, or subscribe.

If you continue to experience issues, contact us at 202-466-1032 or help@chronicle.com

Amid a still-recovering economy and tight state finances, faculty members at public colleges saw no increase in pay this year, on average, for the second year in a row, a survey has found. Private-college faculty members did slightly better, receiving an average raise of 2 percent, which kept their pay on pace with inflation.

Those results come from an annual survey released this week by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. The association reported on salary levels at 812 four-year public and private institutions in the 2010-11 academic year.

At public colleges, only assistant professors who started their jobs in 2010-11 received higher pay than did such faculty members in the previous year, according to the survey results. Those professors received an average of 1.4 percent more this year than the same group did last year. Pay for other faculty ranks was flat.

In contrast, faculty members across all academic ranks at private institutions received increases of at least 1 percent.

None of those figures, at public or private colleges, reflect pay furloughs that some institutions put into effect because of the recession.

ADVERTISEMENT

Over the past decade, faculty salaries have grown just slightly above the rate of inflation. For the 2010 calendar year, the Consumer Price Index rose 1.6 percent compared with 2009.

Among all faculty at both public and private colleges, the median increase in salary was 1.1 percent, somewhat less than the 1.4 percent for senior administrators reported by the association in February in the results of a separate survey. Those administrators experienced a pattern similar to that of faculty members in their average pay, with no increases at public institutions and 2 percent raises at private institutions.

Squeeze on State Budgets

Many state governments are cutting spending to cope with large budget deficits, so the flat line for pay at public institutions “is not a surprise,” said Andy Brantley, president and chief executive of the professional association, known as CUPA-HR.

Faculty pay at public colleges faces other threats this year, as newly elected Republican governors in Wisconsin and elsewhere are proposing to roll back bargaining rights for unionized faculty members, among other state employees. Of the 315 public institutions included in the survey results, about one-third reported that their faculties were unionized.

“As higher-education institutions struggle to balance budgets, we hope that institution leaders will look for new and different ways to acknowledge the work of outstanding faculty,” Mr. Brantley said. For example, he said, administrators could give nonmonetary performance awards and “go out of your way to provide recognition to faculty, publicly and privately.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Adrienne E. Eaton, president of the Rutgers Council of AAUP-AFT Chapters, said the flat line for public institutions “tells me that we’re going to start falling further behind the private sector, so that’s worrisome for retaining quality faculty.”

The faculty job market is loosening up after two years during which recessionary pressures led to hiring freezes at many institutions, said Ms. Eaton, a professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers University. “People will head to places that can pay,” she said.

At Rutgers, the union and the university are headed to arbitration over the institution’s decision last year to freeze salaries and cancel scheduled pay raises. The union rejected the administration’s explanation that state budget cuts had made those moves necessary.

Nationwide, the three disciplines with the highest average salaries in 2010-11, according to the CUPA-HR report, were business, engineering, and legal studies. That status held across all types of institutions and ranks.

The association’s report also listed the disciplines with the lowest average salaries for assistant professors who started their jobs in 2010-11. At private colleges, they were library science, with an average salary of $49,272; theology and religious vocations, with an average salary of $50,620; and liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities, with an average salary of $50,854. At public colleges, they were visual and performing arts, with an average salary of $49,879; history, with an average salary of $51,712; and English language and literature, with an average salary of $51,944.

ADVERTISEMENT

The American Association of University Professors publishes a separate annual report about faculty pay at individual institutions, with this year’s version expected in April. Those data are not reported by discipline, however.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Jeffrey Brainard
Jeffrey Brainard managed The Chronicle of Higher Education’s data and statistics unit beginning in 2008. He was responsible for the collection and analysis of data and graphics for The Chronicle’s recurring and one-time news projects, including its annual survey of compensation for college chief executives.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Related Content

  • Average Faculty Salaries by Field and Rank at 4-Year Colleges and Universities, 2010-11
  • Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
    Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
  • The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
    The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
    Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
    Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2023 The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin