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The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources recently released its 2008-08 Administrative Compensation Survey report. Results indicate that the overall median base salary for senior-level administrative jobs in colleges and universities increased by 4%. This increase is the same as the previous year’s salary survey and, as it has for many years, the overall median salary increase continued to outpace inflation. (According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers [CPI-U] in 2008 was 2.8% higher than in 2006.)
This finding reflects the salaries of 73,575 job incumbents in public and private institutions nationwide. Salaries were reported by 1,307 institutions for 272 selected positions, mostly at the director level and above.
Institution types were broken down into the following categories: Doctoral institutions (Institutions characterized by a significant level of activity in and commitment to doctoral-level education), Master’s
(institutions characterized by diverse post-baccalaureate programs, but not engaged in significant doctoral-level education), Bachelor’s (Institutions characterized by their primary emphasis on general
undergraduate baccalaureate-level education) and Two-year (conferring primarily associate degrees).
Survey participants included approximately 81% of all U.S. doctoral institutions, 63% of master’s institutions and 51% of bachelor’s institutions. More than 400 specialized and two-year institutions also completed this year’s survey
Half of this year’s survey participants are from public institutions and half are from private
institutions, and nearly 90% of this year’s respondents also participated in last year’s survey.
“We are very pleased that over 1,300 institutions consistently make completion of this critically important survey a priority for their institutions,” says College and University Professional Association for Human Resources Director of Research & Information Systems Ray “Chip” Sizemore. “The high participation rate and the large number of incumbents represented in the survey provide very meaningful data for higher education.”
Salaries for this survey were reported in 11 job categories: Senior Executive Officers; Chief Functional Officers; Academic Deans; Academic Associate/Assistant Deans; Academic Affairs; Business and Administrative Affairs; Human Resources; Information Technology; Athletics;
Student Affairs; and External Affairs. Salary increases for Senior Executive/Chief Functional Officer positions were higher than increases in any of the other categories, with an increase of .4% over last year.
Salary increases this year were slightly greater at public institutions than at private institutions in most job categories. The greatest difference was for Athletics positions. Those in Athletics positions at public institutions had a median increase of 4.3% compared to 4.0% at private institutions.
The median base salary for a CEO at a single institution ranged from $156,870 at two-year institutions to $365,190 at doctoral institutions. Other executive salaries reflected similar differences based on institution type.
The following is a representative sample of the information contained in the survey report. Information on obtaining the full survey results is available at the end of the article.
| |
Doctoral |
Master’s |
Bachelor’s |
Two Year |
Overall |
CEO Single Institution |
$365.190 |
$226,000 |
$220,000 |
$156,870 |
$220,000 |
Chief Academic Officer |
$255,232 |
$152,710 |
$137,691 |
$110,151 |
$148,638 |
Chief Business Officer |
$215,375 |
$147,980 |
$134,654 |
$103,210 |
$145,000 |
Chief Development Officer |
$215,694 |
$134,428 |
$125,000 |
$83,888 |
$131,810 |
Chief Information Officer |
$180,000 |
$110,000 |
$94,684 |
$94,222 |
$110,973 |
Chief HR Officer |
$136,450 |
$89,600 |
$74,616 |
$82,969 |
$91,980 |
Chief Student Affairs Officer |
$173,855 |
$118,263 |
$101,674 |
$93,602 |
$113,185 |
The highest paid deans were those in the areas of medicine, dentistry, public health, law and veterinary medicine, while the lowest paid deans were those working in occupational studies/vocational education/technology, mathematics, instruction, divinity/theology and external degree programs.
“Employees are the most important assets of any college or university,” says CUPA-HR Chief Executive Officer Andy Brantley. “I am very pleased to see that 2008-08 salary increases match or slightly exceed increases provided during the previous two fiscal years.”
About the Survey Report
The 2008-08 Administrative Compensation Survey Report provides an overview of median salaries from all reporting institutions by affiliation, budget size and enrollment. Comparative tables break down data by budget quartiles and institutional classification. To order survey results or download a free Executive Summary for this survey, go to “Surveys” on The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources’ home page (www.cupahr.org) and click on “Salary Surveys 2008.” |
