Private colleges outpaced publics in size of salary increases, but both lagged inflation, study of four-year institutions finds.
The median salary of full-time faculty members in 2011-12 is 1.9 percent higher than it was a year ago, according to a study by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.
Continuing a pattern from recent years, the median increase was greater at private institutions (2.3 percent) than at publics (1.1 percent). With a gain in the Consumer Price Index of 3.2 percent, the typical faculty member -- whether at a private or public institution -- lost spending power in the last year.
CUPA-HR does a series of salary surveys around this time of year. Last month, the association reported that the average salary for top administrators increased by 2 percent in the last year (again with greater gains at private than at public institutions).
Two organizations -- CUPA-HR and the American Association of University Professors -- release annual reports on the state of faculty salaries. The CUPA-HR study features analysis by discipline, while the AAUP report features salaries by institution. The AAUP study is due out next month. John W. Curtis, director of research and public policy at the AAUP, said that preliminary analysis at that association suggests an "overall finding very similar to the CUPA number, and also with private colleges and universities continuing to increase salaries more rapidly on average."
The CUPA-HR survey shows -- this year, as in past years -- the extent to which professors' salaries vary widely by discipline. The disciplines with the highest salaries, across rank, are the same this year as they have been for the last four years: law, engineering and business.
A new assistant professor in computer science can expect a salary in the range of $74,000. A counterpart in the foreign languages would be looking at salaries $20,000 smaller. The average for a full professor of engineering is nearly $118,000. For history, the average is about $83,000.
| Discipline and Rank | Unweighted Average | |
| AGRICULTURE | ||
| Professor | 93,595 | |
| Associate Professor | 72,360 | |
| Assistant Professor | 62,200 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 68,999 | |
| Instructor | 46,053 | |
| NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION | ||
| Professor | 92,921 | |
| Associate Professor | 71,376 | |
| Assistant Professor | 61,660 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 62,926 | |
| Instructor | 47,433 | |
| ARCHITECTURE AND RELATED SERVICES | ||
| Professor | 101,034 | |
| Associate Professor | 76,188 | |
| Assistant Professor | 62,764 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 63,386 | |
| Instructor | 49,344 | |
| AREA, ETHNIC, CULTURAL, GENDER AND GROUP STUDIES | ||
| Professor | 98,663 | |
| Associate Professor | 73,686 | |
| Assistant Professor | 58,924 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 61,310 | |
| Instructor | 42,221 | |
| COMMUNICATION, JOURNALISM AND RELATED PROGRAMS | ||
| Professor | 86,231 | |
| Associate Professor | 66,642 | |
| Assistant Professor | 55,071 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 54,415 | |
| Instructor | 45,426 | |
| COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES/TECHNICIANS AND SUPPORT SERVICES | ||
| Professor | 85,878 | |
| Associate Professor | 63,939 | |
| Assistant Professor | 56,115 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 61,064 | |
| Instructor | 51,571 | |
| COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCES AND SUPPORT SERVICES | ||
| Professor | 103,536 | |
| Associate Professor | 85,280 | |
| Assistant Professor | 72,381 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 74,563 | |
| Instructor | 54,237 | |
| EDUCATION | ||
| Professor | 85,165 | |
| Associate Professor | 66,964 | |
| Assistant Professor | 56,589 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 55,618 | |
| Instructor | 46,581 | |
| ENGINEERING | ||
| Professor | 117,911 | |
| Associate Professor | 89,754 | |
| Assistant Professor | 76,938 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 78,650 | |
| Instructor | 60,950 | |
| ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES AND ENGINEERING RELATED FIELDS | ||
| Professor | 89,214 | |
| Associate Professor | 73,507 | |
| Assistant Professor | 62,922 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 63,926 | |
| Instructor | 52,183 | |
| FOREIGN LANGUAGES, LITERATURES, AND LINGUISTICS | ||
| Professor | 87,104 | |
| Associate Professor | 66,824 | |
| Assistant Professor | 54,941 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 53,457 | |
| Instructor | 43,688 | |
| FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES/HUMAN SCIENCES | ||
| Professor | 91,006 | |
| Associate Professor | 68,283 | |
| Assistant Professor | 58,934 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 61,198 | |
| Instructor | 46,083 | |
| LEGAL PROFESSIONS AND STUDIES | ||
| Professor | 135,187 | |
| Associate Professor | 103,109 | |
| Assistant Professor | 86,451 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 96,955 | |
| Instructor | 67,605 | |
| ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE/LETTERS | ||
| Professor | 81,537 | |
| Associate Professor | 63,054 | |
| Assistant Professor | 53,036 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 52,405 | |
| Instructor | 41,655 | |
| LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES, GENERAL STUDIES AND HUMANITIES | ||
| Professor | 82,860 | |
| Associate Professor | 64,058 | |
| Assistant Professor | 54,451 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 52,981 | |
| Instructor | 44,677 | |
| LIBRARY SCIENCE | ||
| Professor | 90,937 | |
| Associate Professor | 70,602 | |
| Assistant Professor | 56,239 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 56,551 | |
| Instructor | 46,505 | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES | ||
| Professor | 95,118 | |
| Associate Professor | 70,938 | |
| Assistant Professor | 59,907 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 57,249 | |
| Instructor | 45,219 | |
| MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS | ||
| Professor | 86,744 | |
| Associate Professor | 67,525 | |
| Assistant Professor | 57,234 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 58,266 | |
| Instructor | 42,938 | |
| MULTI/INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES | ||
| Professor | 93,778 | |
| Associate Professor | 71,194 | |
| Assistant Professor | 58,214 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 58,903 | |
| Instructor | 45,473 | |
| PARKS, RECREATION, LEISURE AND FITNESS STUDIES | ||
| Professor | 82,695 | |
| Associate Professor | 66,462 | |
| Assistant Professor | 54,997 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 55,497 | |
| Instructor | 44,455 | |
| PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES | ||
| Professor | 86,301 | |
| Associate Professor | 65,372 | |
| Assistant Professor | 54,602 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 54,340 | |
| Instructor | 43,522 | |
| THEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS VOCATIONS | ||
| Professor | 74,393 | |
| Associate Professor | 61,996 | |
| Assistant Professor | 53,813 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 52,996 | |
| Instructor | 45,754 | |
| PHYSICAL SCIENCES | ||
| Professor | 90,937 | |
| Associate Professor | 69,071 | |
| Assistant Professor | 58,771 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 58,786 | |
| Instructor | 44,952 | |
| PSYCHOLOGY | ||
| Professor | 86,117 | |
| Associate Professor | 66,324 | |
| Assistant Professor | 56,565 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 56,195 | |
| Instructor | 44,682 | |
| HOMELAND SECURITY, LAW ENFORCEMENT, FIREFIGHTING AND RELATED PROTECTIVE SERVICES | ||
| Professor | 85,558 | |
| Associate Professor | 66,912 | |
| Assistant Professor | 55,897 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 54,588 | |
| Instructor | 45,496 | |
|
||
| Professor | 92,287 | |
| Associate Professor | 70,995 | |
| Assistant Professor | 58,533 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 57,945 | |
| Instructor | 47,184 | |
| SOCIAL SCIENCES | ||
| Professor | 91,350 | |
| Associate Professor | 70,839 | |
| Assistant Professor | 59,614 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 60,240 | |
| Instructor | 46,398 | |
| AIR TRANSPORTATION | ||
| Professor | 94,219 | |
| Associate Professor | 73,710 | |
| Assistant Professor | 61,685 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 73,236 | |
| Instructor | 46,132 | |
| VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS | ||
| Professor | 81,257 | |
| Associate Professor | 63,372 | |
| Assistant Professor | 52,835 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 52,241 | |
| Instructor | 44,002 | |
| HEALTH PROFESSIONS AND RELATED PROGRAMS | ||
| Professor | 98,415 | |
| Associate Professor | 77,032 | |
| Assistant Professor | 65,165 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 66,049 | |
| Instructor | 54,199 | |
| BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT, MARKETING, AND RELATED SUPPORT SERVICES | ||
| Professor | 114,847 | |
| Associate Professor | 96,844 | |
| Assistant Professor | 90,094 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 98,212 | |
| Instructor | 58,926 | |
| HISTORY GENERAL | ||
| Professor | 82,944 | |
| Associate Professor | 64,106 | |
| Assistant Professor | 53,394 | |
| New Assistant Prof | 53,425 | |
| Instructor | 42,065 |
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