The Annual Report On The Economic Status Of The Profession, 2011-12

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List of Tables and Figures
See tables as one file (.pdf)
Explanation of Statistical Data
Download this report (.pdf)
Appendix I State tables (for specific institutions) (.pdfs)
      Alabama - Kansas
      Kentucky - New Mexico     
      New York - Wyoming
Appendix II Institutions without Academic Ranks (.pdf)
Notes to Appendices I and II (.pdf)

Although the results of this year’s survey of full-time faculty compensation are marginally better than they have been the last two years, 2011–12 represents the continuation of a historic low period for faculty salaries. The overall average salary for full-time faculty members rose 1.8 percent from 2010–11, falling well short of the increase in the cost of living during the year. At 2.9 percent, the average salary increase for faculty members who remained employed at the same institution barely kept pace with inflation. And as has been the case for many years, salaries in the private sector generally rose faster than those at public colleges and universities.

Despite the stagnation documented in this annual report, the myth that faculty salaries are driving tuition prices upward persists. This year’s analysis fully debunks that myth with hard evidence. Over the last three decades, across institutional categories, tuition prices have risen two, three, or four times as fast as full-time faculty salaries. For public colleges and universities, a major factor in tuition increases has been the withdrawal of state and local funding. Institutions have also shifted spending away from instruction, and the rise in tuition prices has coincided with rapid growth in part-time faculty appointments that pay incredibly low wages and usually do not include benefits. It’s not faculty salaries that have driven up tuition prices.

This year’s report also takes another look at the compensation of college and university presidents. As we’ve said before, it’s a question of priorities. What signal is sent when presidential salaries continue to increase while those of faculty members are stagnating?

During 2011 and 2012, collective bargaining rights have come under attack from legislators and governors in several states. These attacks have focused particularly on public employees, resting to a significant extent on a false assertion that public-sector workers are overpaid relative to workers in the private sector. We know that this is not true with regard to faculty salaries, since the private-sector advantage continues to increase. But exactly what is the impact of unionization itself on faculty salaries? We provide a fresh analysis.

The “Occupy” movement has drawn a whole new level of attention to the issue of income inequality. This annual report has for many years taken up that issue in the context of colleges and universities, but this time around we’re providing data that reach outside of higher education. Where do you fit in “the 99%”?

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