Description
The full-time faculty members reported in the survey are those included in the US Department of Education categories of “Primarily Instructional” and “Instructional/Research/Public Service,” regardless of whether they are formally designated “faculty.” They do not include clinical or basic science faculty in schools of medicine or military faculty. Full-time faculty members on sabbatical leave with pay are counted at their regular salaries even though they may be receiving a reduced salary while on leave. Full-time replacements for those on leave with pay are not counted. All faculty members who have contracts for the full academic year are included, regardless of whether their status is considered “permanent.” Institutions are asked to exclude (a) full-time faculty members on sabbatical or leave without pay; (b) full-time faculty members whose services are valued by bookkeeping entries rather than by monetary payments unless their salaries are determined by the same principles as those who do not donate their services; (c) full-time faculty members who are in military organizations and are paid on a different scale from civilian employees; (d) administrative officers with titles such as academic dean, associate or assistant dean, librarian, registrar, or coach, even though they may devote part of their time to instruction, unless their instructional salary can be isolated; and (e) research faculty whose appointments have no instructional component.
The academic ranks assigned to full-time faculty members are those determined by the reporting institution. Not all institutions use all ranks, and the definitions vary by institution. Institutions have been instructed to report “visiting” faculty members and those with instructional postdoctoral appointments at the rank of instructor. Institutions have been instructed to report “teaching” faculty members (for example, “Associate Teaching Professor”) at the same rank used in their titles, regardless of their tenure status.
“No rank” full-time faculty members meet the other criteria for inclusion, regardless of whether they are formally designated as “faculty.” They may have titles such as “artist in residence” or “scholar in residence.” Institutions that do not assign faculty rank are instructed to report all full-time faculty members as “no rank.”
Salary figures represent the contracted academic-year salary for full-time faculty members excluding summer teaching, stipends, extra load, or other forms of remuneration. Department heads with faculty rank and no other administrative title are reported at their instructional salary (that is, excluding administrative stipends). Where faculty members are given duties for eleven or twelve months, salary is converted to a standard academic-year basis as determined by the institution.
Downloads and Additional Sources
Abbreviations
Inflation Indices
PCE = Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (BEA)
R-CPI-U-RS = Consumer Price Index Retroactive Series (BLS)
Related Resources
Faculty Compensation Survey
AAUP
Full-time Faculty Raises Finally Beat Inflation … Just Barely
Inside Higher Ed
Definitions
AAUP Institutional Categories.
AAUP institutional categories are assigned to institutions by the AAUP Research Office based on the following institutional characteristics:
Category I (Doctoral) . Institutions characterized by a significant level and breadth of activity in doctoral-level education, as measured by the number of doctorate recipients and the diversity in doctoral programs. Institutions in this category grant a minimum of 30 doctorate degrees annually, from at least three distinct programs.
Category IIA (Master's). Institutions characterized by diverse postbaccalaureate programs (including first professional) but not engaged in significant doctoral-level education. Institutions in this category grant a minimum of fifty postbaccalaureate degrees annually, from at least three distinct programs. Awards of postbaccalaureate certificates are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Category IIB (Baccalaureate). Institutions characterized by their primary emphasis on undergraduate baccalaureate-level education. Institutions in this category grant a minimum of fifty bachelor’s degrees annually, from at least three distinct programs, and bachelor’s and higher degrees make up at least 50 percent of total degrees awarded.
Category III (Associate's with Academic Ranks). Institutions characterized by a significant emphasis on undergraduate associate’s degree education. Institutions in this category grant a minimum of fifty associate’s degrees annually. Associate’s degrees make up at least 50 percent, and bachelor’s and higher degrees make up less than 50 percent, of total degrees and certificates awarded.
Category IV (Associate's without Academic Ranks) . Institutions that meet the criteria for "Associate's" (Category III), but do not utilize standard academic ranks. An institution that refers to all faculty members as "instructors" or "lecturers" but does not distinguish among them on the basis of standard ranks should be included in this category. However, if an institution utilizes another ranking scheme that is analogous to the standard ranks, it can be included in Category I, II, or III as appropriate.
Suggested Citation
Users shall provide to the AAUP Department of Research and Public Policy an abstract and reference for any published research material resulting from the use of the Faculty Compensation Survey data. Users shall acknowledge in all publications and presentations based on Faculty Compensation Survey data, whether internal, or external, that the source of these data is the ʺFaculty Compensation Survey.ʺ
Change Log
7/8/2022: Initial revision.
11/30/2022: Changed structure from summary/detail to trend/breakdown/drilldown.
4/6/2023: Data update.
4/7/2023: Data correction: several missing institutions were added.
8/2/2023: Data update and corrections to prior year data.
10/11/2023: Corrections to prior year data.
10/19/2023: Corrections to prior year data.
2/12/2024: Corrections to prior year data.
4/9/2024: Preliminary 2023-24 data.