Chronicle of Higher Education, The Faculty Salary Squeeze: Professors brace for another year of losing ground.:
From 2013 to 2023, the latest year for which data are available, the average pay for faculty members nationwide when adjusted for inflation has decreased by 1.5 percent, according to a Chronicle analysis of data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). For full professors, the average pay has decreased by 3.2 percent over that same period, while for full-time staff, it grew by 4 percent. Meanwhile, national salary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that average salaries across all industries increased by 7.7 percent over the same period, after adjusting for inflation.
Why the difference? Experts attribute the faculty wage stagnation to growth in institutional debt and noninstructional expenses, declines in state funding, and some unusual attributes of the profession. With President Trump’s draconian cuts to higher education, many faculty members are bracing for yet another year with a minute pay raise or none at all — assuming they are even able to hold on to their jobs. Emory University, for example, announced a freeze on compensation adjustments as part of a series of budget measures in response to funding uncertainties, and Princeton University has announced it would decrease the amount of money available for merit increases. …
The salaries of the highest-paid administrators have drawn particular scrutiny and hurt morale among the rank-and-file. The median base salaries for presidents of doctoral institutions increased 27 percent, from 2019 to 2023, compared to 10 percent for full professors at doctoral institutions, over the same period, according to the AAUP.
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