What Professor Pay Cuts Mean for College Students
As tuition at many colleges and universities continued to balloon for the 2009-10 academic year, a new survey suggests faculty salaries remained largely unchanged.
Of course, adjusted for negative inflation, no change in a salary is equivalent to a modest raise. But many professors weren’t that lucky. Nearly a third of faculty members surveyed said their salaries had been reduced, with a median decrease of 3%, according to a survey of more than 215,000 professors released Monday by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), an industry group. Roughly 21% of faculty incumbents reported their salaries were unchanged from the previous year.
For the average student, the upshot is that less of each dollar they spend to attend classes goes toward the salaries of their professors. It’s a trend that some higher-education workers say could have a negative impact on the quality of students’ education.
“To see the magnitude of how far-reaching the cuts have been for faculty salaries was a surprise to us,” says Andy Brantley, president of CUPA-HR. “There are tremendous budget challenges, but there’s a point where the academic mission is potentially compromised.”
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