Pay Increases in Higher Ed Exceeded Inflation for First Time Since the Pandemic

New research from CUPA-HR has found that although median pay increases for most higher education employees in 2023-24 continued the upward trend seen last year (and exceeded the inflation rate for the first time since 2019-20), most employees are still being paid less than they were in 2019-20 in inflation-adjusted dollars. The largest gap between pre-pandemic inflation-adjusted salaries and current salaries is for tenure-track faculty (earning 9.7% less), followed by non-tenure-track teaching faculty (earning 8.2% less). The smallest gap is for staff (earning only 0.3% less).

Some of the other key findings from an analysis of CUPA-HR’s higher ed workforce salary survey data from 2016-17 to 2023-24:

• Non-tenure-track teaching faculty received their highest raise in the past eight years.
• Staff (generally non-exempt employees) received the highest increase in pay in comparison to other employee types. This was true last year as well.
• Tenure-track faculty continued to receive the lowest pay increases (and were the only group of employees whose raise did not surpass inflation).

Explore this data and more in CUPA-HR’s newest interactive graphic.