Actual Raises for Faculty

Tenured and tenure-track faculty members at four-year colleges and universities are receiving raises this year that exceed the increase in the cost of living, according to a study being released today by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.

The study found that the median increase in base salary is 2.1 percent, and that the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index for the period was 1.5 percent. Many faculty members in recent years have received no raises or increases that were smaller than increases in the cost of living, but this year could mark (even with only small average gains in excess of CPI) one in which tenure-track professors are receiving real raises. The new study also finds a continuation of wide gaps in pay by discipline.

Since the economic downturn started in 2008, salaries have been particularly tight in public higher education. But the CUPA-HR study suggests a possible shift. For the first time in four years, CUPA-HR found that increases were greater at public institutions (2.2 percent) than at private institutions (2.0 percent).

Public college and university faculty members may not want to celebrate just yet, however. Over the past few years, gains at private institutions have still been larger. And another faculty salary survey about to come is expecting similar overall figures, but without the public advantage.

The two major studies of faculty salaries released each spring include those of CUPA-HR and of the American Association of University Professors, which typically comes out a few weeks after the release of the CUPA-HR study.

John W. Curtis, director of research and public policy at the American Association of University Professors, leads the effort to produce that group's salary survey. He said that the AAUP data are showing a slightly larger increase at independent private institutions than at public institutions. The AAUP uses separate categories for independent private colleges and universities and for those affiliated with religious groups, which generally have lower salaries. The gaps that AAUP has been reporting between public and private college faculty members are significant. Last year, the AAUP found that the average salary for a full professor at a doctoral, independent private institution was $167,118, more than $40,000 more than the comparable average at public institutions.

CUPA-HR's new survey found that, in analyzing the data by Carnegie Classification, increases for public and private professors were similar, except in the baccalaureate category, where public faculty members saw a 2.3 percent increase and private faculty members saw a 2.0 percent increase. By faculty rank, public faculty members beat private faculty members at all levels.

One difference between the CUPA-HR study and the AAUP study is that the former releases average salaries by discipline while the latter does so by institution. This year -- for public and private colleges alike -- the highest average salaries across ranks were in the law and related professions, engineering and business. The lowest averages for private institutions were in communications technologies/technicians and support services; theology and religious vocations; and parks, recreation, leisure and fitness studies. For publics, the lowest average salaries were in history; English language and literature/letters; and visual and performing arts.

The data show that the gaps by discipline are significant, with professional fields generally doing well and the humanities not so much.

A new assistant professor of computer sciences at a bachelor's institution can expect an average salary of $64,506, just about $10,000 more than a new assistant professor of history.

Here is a comparison of engineering and English, for all sectors combined.

Base Salary, 2013-14

Here are figures for a range of disciplines:

Faculty Salaries by Discipline, 2013-14