As details continue to surface regarding the excesses in
University of California executive compensation, a new report shows
faculty salaries at colleges and universities across the nation
have been taking hits in recent years.
The American Association of University Professors released a
report Monday detailing faculty compensation, which shows that
salaries, when adjusted for inflation, have decreased for the
second year in a row ““ the first two-year decline in over 20
years. UCLA saw a slight increase in inflation-adjusted faculty
salary and its faculty ranks among the highest-paid educators in
California.
Though nationwide faculty salaries increased in 2005-2006 by 3.1
percent, they failed to keep pace with the inflation rate, which
was 3.4 percent. This 0.3 percent decline follows a 0.5 percent
inflation-adjusted decline in 2004-2005.
“The states have been undergoing some financial hardships
and one of the first places where they tend to look to cut back is
higher education,” said John Curtis, director of research for
the AAUP. Though state spending has begun to recover, he said,
faculty pay has continued to suffer.
There are several trends that might explain this, he said.
Colleges and universities have been using more part-time faculty
members in recent years who naturally command lower pay, he
said.
Additionally, as the recent UC executive compensation hearings
have demonstrated, presidential pay has not taken any considerable
hits in recent years.
“Presidential salaries have been increasing more rapidly
than faculty salaries,” Curtis said. It is “part of a
trend toward more corporate style of management in colleges and
universities.”
But some groups believe faculty salaries are too high as it
is.
A report released earlier this month by the Secretary of
Education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education
listed faculty salaries as one of the main reasons for the high
cost of college.
“On average, 75 percent of the costs to run a college are
related to personnel expenses, including benefits. Thus, all the
costs that any enterprise has to recruit and retain staff, pay
cost-of-living increases and keep up with rising health care
expenses also are paid by colleges and universities as a part of
doing business,” the paper said. “Faculty salaries are
especially expensive.”
According to the AAUP report, which breaks down salary
information by individual institutions, UCLA is tied with UC
Berkeley as the university with the third-highest paid faculty
members in California, behind Stanford University and the
California Institute of Technology.
UCLA faculty salaries actually outpaced both the national
average and the inflation rate. In the past year, the average
faculty salary increased by 3.7 percent, following only a 1.4
percent increase the previous year. Pay for full-time UCLA
professors increased by nearly 4.1 percent in the past year.
The average salary for UCLA faculty members in the past year is
$103,400. After benefits ““ which include retirement
contribution, medical insurance and other costs ““ the average
total compensation for UCLA faculty members is $135,100.
The report also breaks down salary by gender.
The average salary, before benefits, for the university’s
822 full-time male professors is $131,600, whereas the average
salary for the 241 full-time female professors is $117,300.
Richard Berk, a statistics professor who has studied differences
in pay between men and women, said male professors tend to make
more than female professors because of the rate at which they are
promoted. Men tend to be hired into positions which bring greater
salaries, he said.
“The man has a higher salary but not because he is a man,
because he was hired at a higher level,” Berk said.