SALARY EXPLORER: See Faculty-Salary Data for More Than 1,300 Colleges
STORY: Experience Doesn't Always Pay
DATABASE: Search the Results of the AAUP Survey
| Where Professors Earn the Most | |
| Average salaries, 2010-11 | Highest-paid full professors, all private institutions |
| Harvard U. | $193,800 |
| Columbia U. | $191,400 |
| U. of Chicago | $190,400 |
| Stanford U. | $188,400 |
| Princeton U. | $186,000 | Highest-paid full professors, all public institutions |
| New Jersey Institute of Technology | $158,700 |
| U. of California at Los Angeles | $153,700 |
| U. of California at Berkeley | $149,100 |
| U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor | $146,900 |
| U. of Maryland at Baltimore | $144,800 |
| Note: The figures cover full-time members of the instructional staff except those in medical schools. The salaries are adjusted to a standard nine-month work year. | |
| Source: American Association of University Professors | |
| Average Salaries of Full-Time Faculty Members, 2010-11 | All institutions | Public | Private, independent | Religious | Salary | 1-year change | Salary | 1-year change | Salary | 1-year change | Salary | 1-year change | Doctoral institutions |
| Professor | $127,296 | 1.8% | $118,054 | 1.3% | $157,282 | 2.4% | $131,374 | 1.9% |
| Associate professor | $84,686 | 1.4% | $81,266 | 1.0% | $99,404 | 2.8% | $89,329 | 1.8% |
| Assistant professor | $72,893 | 2.1% | $69,777 | 1.6% | $86,189 | 3.0% | $75,488 | 2.6% |
| Instructor | $48,812 | 1.4% | $46,300 | 0.9% | $59,419 | 3.8% | $62,954 | 3.3% |
| Lecturer | $55,520 | -- | $53,154 | -- | $63,960 | -- | $55,913 | -- |
| No rank | $65,148 | -- | $56,767 | -- | $73,336 | -- | $70,651 | -- |
| All | $92,468 | 1.7% | $86,653 | 1.2% | $114,661 | 2.5% | $95,432 | 2.2% | Master's institutions |
| Professor | $91,998 | 0.9% | $89,808 | 0.5% | $101,290 | 1.8% | $91,225 | 1.7% |
| Associate professor | $72,469 | 1.1% | $71,516 | 0.8% | $76,311 | 1.5% | $71,400 | 2.0% |
| Assistant professor | $61,056 | 1.3% | $60,612 | 1.2% | $63,574 | 1.6% | $59,692 | 1.6% |
| Instructor | $45,336 | 0.4% | $43,772 | -0.2% | $51,195 | 1.2% | $49,025 | 2.8% |
| Lecturer | $50,195 | -- | $49,309 | -- | $56,151 | -- | $52,468 | -- |
| No rank | $56,470 | -- | $54,756 | -- | $63,549 | -- | $57,012 | -- |
| All | $71,121 | 1.0% | $69,620 | 0.8% | $77,223 | 1.6% | $70,793 | 1.7% | Baccalaureate institutions |
| Professor | $87,835 | 1.1% | $84,398 | 0.2% | $99,976 | 1.4% | $74,970 | 1.1% |
| Associate professor | $68,042 | 1.3% | $68,996 | 1.1% | $73,804 | 1.5% | $61,304 | 1.2% |
| Assistant professor | $56,425 | 1.3% | $57,544 | 0.8% | $60,234 | 1.5% | $51,875 | 1.4% |
| Instructor | $46,475 | 1.1% | $47,282 | 1.0% | $48,636 | 0.4% | $44,090 | 1.8% |
| Lecturer | $52,118 | -- | $51,014 | -- | $58,146 | -- | $42,095 | -- |
| No rank | $58,818 | -- | $48,755 | -- | $63,893 | -- | $49,213 | -- |
| All | $68,047 | 1.3% | $65,199 | 0.6% | $76,487 | 1.5% | $60,759 | 1.3% | Two-year institutions with academic ranks |
| Professor | $73,869 | 0.1% | $74,092 | 0.1% | $57,200 | -- | -- | -- |
| Associate professor | $61,391 | 0.5% | $61,469 | 0.4% | $57,744 | -- | -- | -- |
| Assistant professor | $54,094 | 0.2% | $54,307 | 0.3% | $44,351 | -- | -- | -- |
| Instructor | $46,905 | -0.7% | $47,072 | -0.7% | $35,400 | -- | -- | -- |
| Lecturer | $52,931 | -- | $52,943 | -- | $43,187 | -- | -- | -- |
| No rank | $40,687 | -- | $40,501 | -- | $27,255 | -- | -- | -- |
| All | $60,353 | 0.1% | $60,532 | 0.1% | $50,142 | -- | -- | -- | Two-year institutions without academic ranks |
| All | $57,517 | 0.3% | $57,603 | 0.3% | -- | -- | -- | -- | All institutions with academic ranks |
| Professor | $110,488 | 1.4% | $105,780 | 1.0% | $131,589 | 2.2% | $95,163 | 1.7% |
| Associate professor | $77,365 | 1.2% | $76,242 | 0.8% | $84,648 | 2.2% | $71,969 | 1.6% |
| Assistant professor | $65,257 | 1.5% | $64,711 | 1.3% | $71,014 | 2.1% | $59,183 | 1.8% |
| Instructor | $47,143 | 0.9% | $45,701 | 0.3% | $53,585 | 2.4% | $49,683 | 2.5% |
| Lecturer | $53,556 | -- | $51,747 | -- | $61,890 | -- | $52,073 | -- |
| No rank | $61,574 | -- | $54,886 | -- | $70,423 | -- | $64,428 | -- |
| All | $81,009 | 1.4% | $78,294 | 0.9% | $94,619 | 2.1% | $72,776 | 1.8% |
| Note: Dollar figures are based on data from 1,319 institutions; percentage changes are based on data from 1,191 institutions that reported comparable data for both years. As a result, the percentage changes refer to a different set of dollar figures than those shown. Percentages are not adjusted for inflation. Dollar figures do not reflect all pay reductions caused by unpaid furloughs attributed to the recession. The figures cover full-time members of the instructional staff, except those in medical schools. The salaries are adjusted to a standard nine-month work year. A dash indicates that no data were reported. | ||||||||
| Source: American Association of University Professors | ||||||||
| Presidential Pay Rose Faster Than Full-Time-Faculty Salaries | Presidential Salary | Full-time-faculty salary | Average increase | Average 2007-8 | Average 2010-11 | Average increase | Average 2007-8 | Average 2010-11 | Public institutions |
| Doctoral | 12.3% | $353,207 | $388,995 | 5.6% | $75,938 | $80,156 |
| Master's | 12.7% | $229,026 | $256,477 | 5.7% | $62,050 | $65,685 |
| Baccalaureate | 9.5% | $189,482 | $207,787 | 6.5% | $55,719 | $59,222 |
| Two-year | 10.5% | $172,696 | $190,306 | 4.5% | $55,151 | $57,530 |
| All Institutions | 11.5% | $234,150 | $259,238 | 5.4% | $62,183 | $65,551 | Private institutions |
| Doctoral | 20.7% | $457,934 | $582,661 | 7.2% | $85,924 | $91,783 |
| Master's | 21.9% | $255,158 | $308,960 | 6.6% | $63,694 | $67,902 |
| Baccalaureate | 10.3% | $232,820 | $255,893 | 4.9% | $59,336 | $62,240 |
| Two-year | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| All Institutions | 14.4% | $249,442 | $286,897 | 5.7% | $61,804 | $65,310 |
| Note: The table includes only those institutions providing all data in both years. Presidential salary includes base plus supplemental cash payments. Faculty salary includes all ranks. Private category includes both independent and religiously affiliated institutions. There were too few private associate institutions to generate valid separate statistics, but those institutions are included in the totals. The average increase is the mean of all increases in the category and is not based on the the average-salary figures here. | ||||||
| Source: American Association of University Professors | ||||||
| How Much More (or Less) Full Professors Earned, by Discipline, Than the Average Full Professor of English Language and Literature, 1980-81 to 2009-10 | |||||||
| Discipline | 1980-81 | 1985-86 | 1991-92 | 1996-97 | 2001-2 | 2005-6 | 2009-10 |
| Fine arts: visual and performing | -8.8% | -9.6% | -7.9% | -9.7% | -11.1% | -12.2% | -12.4% |
| Education | -4.0% | -8.0% | -1.2% | -0.8% | -2.5% | -3.8% | -4.3% |
| Foreign language and literature | 0.9% | -1.8% | -1.5% | 0.5% | -3.9% | -4.5% | -4.1% |
| Communications | -3.3% | -6.7% | 2.6% | 1.9% | -2.9% | -3.3% | -3.2% |
| Philosophy | 2.3% | -4.8% | 2.0% | 1.1% | -2.9% | 0.0% | 2.1% |
| Library science | -1.5% | -0.6% | 9.9% | 6.6% | 3.5% | -2.1% | 3.6% |
| Mathematics | 7.6% | 4.4% | 11.0% | 11.5% | 6.8% | 6.8% | 7.2% |
| Psychology | 5.0% | 1.6% | 9.5% | 9.7% | 8.3% | 9.0% | 8.9% |
| Physical sciences | 7.7% | 8.0% | 14.9% | 14.5% | 12.8% | 12.1% | 12.9% |
| All-discipline average (including medical) | 4.8% | 5.1% | 13.3% | 13.9% | 12.2% | 12.0% | 13.4% |
| Social sciences | 4.8% | 3.2% | 9.0% | 8.7% | 9.2% | 14.1% | 16.8% |
| Health professions and related sciences | 20.3% | 19.8% | 34.3% | 36.4% | 31.3% | 18.1% | 18.9% |
| Engineering | 8.1% | 14.3% | 29.0% | 27.8% | 24.0% | 24.3% | 25.2% |
| Computer and information sciences | 13.4% | 17.6% | 32.2% | 28.1% | 28.7% | 27.5% | 28.4% |
| Economics | 13.9% | 11.3% | 28.4% | 25.7% | 26.4% | 32.4% | 41.2% |
| Business administration and management | 11.4% | 15.2% | 33.8% | 38.7% | 40.8% | 46.5% | 50.9% |
| Law and legal studies | 33.2% | 41.0% | 54.2% | 58.4% | 53.5% | 54.0% | 59.5% |
| Source: "Faculty Salary Survey by Discipline," Office of Institutional Research and Information Management, Oklahoma State University | |||||||
