State University Faculty Compensation Competitiveness Continues to Slip

by Russ Stanton, IFO Director of Government Relations

Below are links to comparisons of how Minnesota State University faculty average salaries and total compensation (by rank) compare to like (Category IIA) institutions nationally.  The data is taken from the AAUP publication Academe, which annually publishes the institutionally reported data. Several years ago the joint MnSCU/IFO task force on salary competitiveness agreed that since the Minnesota State Universities recruit nationally, and the vast majority of the faculty teach at Category IIA institutions, the most appropriate comparison was to national averages for Category IIA institutions.

The data from this year shows that Minnesota State Universities continue to decline in compensation competitiveness.   Minnesota State University faculty salaries and compensation are now below average at all ranks.   In terms of total compensation, Minnesota State University faculty are now below both the average and the median (50^th percentile) at all ranks, and at about the 40^th percentile for the ranks of Associate and Instructor.  What is worse, despite our Chancellors lip service to improving faculty salaries to the 80^th percentile (where we were in the 1980s), our ranking continues to deteriorate under his watch.

These data raise important quality issues that should concern faculty and administration alike.   What could be more central to the quality of education than the quality of the faculty?  The state universities now find themselves in the unenviable position of hiring from a labor pool that is more than 50% picked over by better paying institutions.  The high percentage of failed searches reflects our competitive position.

Several years ago, MnSCU could legitimately point to the cut in state funding as a reason for small compensation increases.   However, state appropriations to MnSCU increased 8.7% last biennium and will increase 12.6% next biennium.   Tuition revenue has also gone up rapidly.  If MnSCU can’t improve our compensation ranking now—when will they be able to do so?  The problem is that MnSCU has chosen to spend the money elsewhere—particularly in the area of building a huge, centrally controlled technology infrastructure.

I hope this data is helpful.

Salary Comparison (Microsoft Excel format)
Salary Comparison (PDF format)

Compensation Comparison (Microsoft Excel format)
Compensation Comparison (PDF format)