2016-17: Psychology Faculty Salaries

Executive Summary

Each year, the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) conducts compensation surveys for faculty in higher education. Salary data are broken down by several variables, including academic discipline, academic rank, tenure status, institution type, presence of collective bargaining units and Carnegie Classification of the institution.

This report focuses on salaries collected by CUPA-HR for psychology faculty employed full-time in four-year colleges and universities during the 2016-17 academic year.

• When adjusted for inflation, median salaries between 2015-16 and 2016-17 increased slightly, ranging from half a percent to three percent. Depending on the academic rank, salaries did not always keep pace with inflation, and psychology faculty from all academic ranks and at all types of Carnegie classifications saw smaller increases in their salaries between 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years, than they did between 2014-15 and 2015-16.
• Tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty employed at private independent institutions earned the highest salaries — more than faculty at public and private religious institutions — across all academic ranks. Psychology faculty employed at private religious institutions had the lowest median salaries.
• Tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty working in the Pacific division of the United States (i.e., Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington) earned the highest median salaries. Faculty in the East South Central division (i.e., Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee) earned the lowest salaries.
• For psychology tenured/tenure-track positions, the majority of faculty in the academic ranks of new assistant professor, assistant professor and associate professor were female. However, there were more male faculty than female faculty in the position of professor.
• Racial/ethnic minority psychology faculty in tenured/tenure-track positions earned salaries that were similar (or slightly surpassed) the salaries of white psychology faculty. However, fewer racial/ethnic minorities held these faculty positions, particularly in higher academic ranks, such as associate professor and professor.
• Psychology faculty working at public institutions with collective bargaining units earned more than psychology faculty who worked at public institutions without collective bargaining units.
• Collapsed across academic rank and institution type (i.e., public, private independent and private religious), non-tenure-track faculty earned approximately 76.6 percent of the salaries earned by tenured/tenure-track faculty.
• In general, psychology faculty earned less than faculty working in other social science disciplines, as well as faculty in other STEM or STEM-related disciplines.

Introduction

The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) is a non-profit organization that provides information, resources, advocacy and connections in higher education. Its membership consists of more than 23,000 HR professionals and other leaders in higher education at more than 2,000 member organizations worldwide.¹ Membership is institution-based and includes approximately 93 percent of all U.S. doctoral institutions, 78 percent of all master's institutions, 53 percent of all bachelor's institutions and more than 500 two-year and specialized institutions.

Each year, CUPA-HR conducts compensation surveys for higher education. Academic institutions are asked to provide salary data for various professionals working in higher education, including administrators, department heads and faculty. In this report, we examine faculty salary data reported by CUPA-HR in its 2016-17 Faculty in Higher Education Salary Survey. This survey has been conducted for 36 years,² and includes data for 237,231 full-time faculty (164,736 tenure track faculty, 60,184 non-tenure teaching faculty and 12,311 non-tenure track research faculty) at 687 U.S. institutions, which participated in this year's survey.

Salaries for full-time faculty,^3-4 working in four-year colleges and universities are broken down by:

1. Academic discipline: academic disciplines are based on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Classification of Institutional Programs (CIP) Codes.⁵
2. Academic rank: professor, associate professor, assistant professor, new assistant professor,⁶ and instructor/lecturer.
3. Tenure status: tenured/tenure-track and non-tenure-track.
4. Type of institution: private independent, private religious and public (with and without collective bargaining units).⁷
5. Carnegie Classification: the Carnegie Classification system is a framework for categorizing colleges and universities in the United States, and refers primarily to the highest degree awarded by that institution.⁸ In this report, psychology salaries are broken down by the following Carnegie Classifications: doctoral, master's and baccalaureate.

Although CUPA-HR collects salary data for 32 disciplines, this report focuses primarily on the salaries earned by psychology faculty (CIP code 42). Salaries for psychology faculty were collected by CUPA-HR and are presented throughout this report. All tables and figures presented in this report are derived from summary data provided by CUPA-HR. Table 1opens in new window (PDF, 277KB) displays the number of faculty and institutions that provided salary data for psychology, broken down by academic rank and tenure status.

Table 1. Number of Faculty and Institutions that Provided Salary Data for Psychology Faculty by Tenure Status, Institution Type and Academic Rank, 2016-17
* For non-tenure-track teaching faculty, new assistant professors are included within the rank of assistant professor.

Salary Increases for Psychology Faculty between 2015-16 and 2016-17

Table 2opens in new window (PDF, 269KB) presents median salaries for full-time tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years.⁹ Salaries are broken down by academic rank and Carnegie Classification of the institution. In 2016, the annual Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) was approximately 2.2 percent higher than in 2015.¹⁰ When salaries earned in 2015 were adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index data for the year 2016, salaries between 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years increased slightly across almost all academic ranks and Carnegie classifications.¹¹

Table 2. Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Academic Rank and Carnegie Classification of Institution (Constant and Adjusted Dollars), 2015-16 and 2016-17

Collapsed across all Carnegie classifications, psychology faculty in each academic rank saw only slight increases in their salaries. Specifically, professors saw an increase of 1.0 percent; salaries for associate and assistant professors increased by 0.8 percent and 0.9 percent respectively, and salaries for new assistant professors rose by only 0.4 percent. Figure 1opens in new window (PDF, 366KB) illustrates the percent change in median salaries between the 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years, broken down by academic rank and Carnegie Classification of the institution.

Faculty employed at institutions classified as "doctoral," experienced the largest increases in median salaries (2.4 percent for professors, 1.9 percent for associate professors and 3.9 percent for assistant professors). At -0.1 percent, the smallest change in salary between 2015-16 and 2016-17 was for professors employed at master's institutions (salaries basically remained stagnant for this group across 2016 and 2017 academic years). Psychology faculty from all academic ranks and at all types of Carnegie classifications saw smaller increases in their salaries between 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years, than they did between 2014-15 and 2015-16.¹² In some cases, salaries decreased.

Figure 1. Percent Differences in Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Academic Rank and Carnegie Classification of Institution, 2015-16 to 2016-17
Note: Salaries for the 2015-16 academic year were adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index data for the year 2016.

Tenured/Tenure-Track Salaries for Psychology Faculty, 2016-17

The following section displays salary data for full-time, tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty for the 2016-17 academic year. Tables and figures illustrate median salaries broken down by academic rank (professor, associate professor, assistant professor, new assistant professor and instructor), institution type (private independent, private religious and public), and the presence or absence of collective bargaining units at public institutions.

Salaries by Academic Rank and Institution Type

As expected, psychology professors earned the highest salaries across all types of institutions (median=$90,896), while instructors earned the least (median=$48,000). However, Figure 2opens in new window (PDF, 259KB) displays an overlap in salaries across academic ranks, due to a wide range of salaries within each rank. In particular, the range of salaries for professors was quite large ($54,360 to $257,283).

Figure 2. Median Salaries and Salary Ranges for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Academic Rank, 2016-17

Table 3opens in new window (PDF, 277KB) displays median salaries for tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty, by academic rank and institution type. In general, tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty employed at private independent institutions had higher median salaries than psychology faculty at public and private religious institutions. Faculty employed at religious private institutions earned the least of the three institution types, across all academic ranks.¹³

Table 3. Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Academic Rank and Institution Type, 2016-17

Figure 3opens in new window (PDF, 284KB) shows that median salaries were highest for psychology faculty (across all academic ranks) employed at private independent institutions, followed by public institutions, and private religious institutions. When collapsed across all academic ranks, tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty employed at private independent institutions earned approximately $4,028 or 5.3 percent more than psychology faculty at public institutions, and $12,562 or 18.6 percent more than psychology faculty at private religious institutions. Psychology faculty employed at public institutions earned approximately $8,534 or 12.6 percent more than psychology faculty at private religious institutions.

Figure 3. Percent Differences in Mean Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Academic Rank and Institution Type, 2016-17
Note: Comparisons of median salaries for tenured/tenure-track instructors by institution type could not be made due to the small sample sizes of instructors in private independent and private religious institutions.

Collective Bargaining

The presence of collective bargaining units in public institutions had a direct effect on the salaries earned by tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty.¹⁴ Table 4opens in new window (PDF, 282KB) illustrates that median salaries were consistently higher across all academic ranks (except for new assistant professors) for psychology faculty at public institutions with collective bargaining units.¹⁵

Table 4. Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Academic Rank for Public Institutions with and without Collective Bargaining Units, 2016-17
* Cells for instructor salaries are suppressed due to sample sizes of five or less.

As demonstrated in Figure 4opens in new window (PDF, 261KB), tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty working in public institutions with collective bargaining units earned between 8.8 to 12.6 percent more than their counterparts at non-unionized public institutions. The one exception was new assistant professors, who earned the same at both public institutions with and without collective bargaining. Collapsed across all academic ranks, the median salary of psychology faculty at public institutions with collective bargaining units ($83,266) was $11,157 or 15.5 percent higher than that of faculty working at public institutions without collective bargaining units (median=$72,109).

Figure 4. Percent Differences in Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty Employed at Public Institutions with and without Collective Bargaining Units, 2016-17

Figure 5opens in new window (PDF, 263KB) displays the median salaries and salary ranges for tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty by type of institution. Collapsed across academic rank, the median salary for psychology faculty in public institutions was $76,012. This median was $4,028 less than the median salary for faculty at private independent institutions (median=$80,040), but $8,534 more than the median salary for faculty at private religious institutions (median=$67,478).

However, when public institutions were separated further into those that were unionized and those that were not, there was a large difference in median salaries. The median salary for psychology at public institutions was $83,266 for those with collective bargaining and $72,109 for those without collective bargaining. As such, non-unionized psychology faculty employed at public institutions earned $11,157 less than psychology faculty that were unionized. These findings suggest that the presence of collective bargaining units plays an important role in the salaries earned by tenured and tenure-track psychology faculty.

Figure 5. Median Salaries and Salary Ranges for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Type of Institution, 2016-17
Note: Salaries in this figure are collapsed across academic ranks (i.e., professor, associate professor, assistant professor, and new assistant professor).

Geographic Differences in Faculty Salaries

Median salaries for tenured/tenure-track faculty varied, depending on the geographic division their institution was located in within the United States.¹⁶ Looking at salaries by geographic division, tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty working at institutions in the Pacific division (i.e., Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington) earned the highest median salaries. Collapsed across academic rank, faculty in the Pacific division earned a median salary of $85,324.¹⁷ The second highest salaries were reported in New England, with a median salary of $84,582 (collapsed across all academic ranks). The lowest median salaries were found in southern regions. Specifically, psychology faculty in the West North Central (median salary=$69,161) and East South Central (median=$65,770) divisions earned the lowest salaries. Figure 6opens in new window (PDF, 294KB) displays median salaries for tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty by academic rank and geographic division.

Figure 6. Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty by Academic Rank and Geographic Division, 2016-17
Note: "Median salary" in the legend refers to median salaries collapsed across all academic institutions within each geographic division.

Faculty Salaries by Gender and Race/Ethnicity

For the first time, CUPA-HR collected gender and race/ethnicity data for psychology faculty in the 2016-17 academic year. For psychology tenured/tenure-track positions, there were more female faculty members than male faculty in the academic ranks of new assistant professor (58 percent), assistant professor (61 percent) and associate professor (55 percent). However, there were more male faculty (58 percent) than female faculty (42 percent) in the position of professor.

When examining salaries for tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty, female faculty earned almost the same as their male counterparts. For example, the median salary for female psychology professors ($89,687) was 98 percent of what male professors earned (median=$91,700). Table 5opens in new window (PDF, 267KB) displays all median salaries for tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty by gender and academic rank.

Table 5. Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Gender and Academic Rank, 2016-17

In terms of race/ethnicity, there were fewer racial/ethnic minorities in psychology faculty positions than white psychology faculty, across all academic ranks. This was especially the case for higher academic ranks, where only 33 percent of associate professors and 29 percent of professors were racial/ethnic minorities.¹⁸ The median salaries for racial/ethnic minority faculty were slightly higher than salaries for White psychology faculty. For example, the median salary for professors was $95,244 for racial/ethnic minority faculty and $90,107 for white faculty. Table 6opens in new window (PDF, 267KB) displays all median salaries for tenured/tenure-track psychology by race/ethnicity and academic rank.

Table 6. Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Race/Ethnicity and Academic Rank, 2016-17

Non-Tenure-Track Salaries for Psychology Teaching Faculty, 2016-17

This section displays salary data for full-time, non-tenure-track psychology teaching faculty for the 2016-2017 academic year. Non-tenure-track is defined as "individuals whose faculty appointments do not carry the commitment or expectation of permanent tenure."¹⁹

Salaries by Academic Rank and Institution Type

Table 7opens in new window (PDF, 278KB) illustrates median salaries broken down by academic rank and institution type. Collapsed across all academic ranks, non-tenure-track psychology faculty employed at private independent institutions earned the highest salaries (median=$61,101), followed by private religious institutions (median=$57,820), and closely followed by public institutions (median=$53,005).

Table 7. Median Salaries for Non-Tenure-Track Psychology Teaching Faculty by Academic Rank and Institution Type, 2016-17

As Figure 7opens in new window (PDF, 340KB) illustrates, when collapsed across all academic ranks, non-tenure-track psychology teaching faculty employed at private independent institutions earned $3,218 or 5.7 percent more than psychology faculty employed at private religious institutions, and $8,096 or 15.3 percent more than psychology faculty employed at public institutions.

Figure 7. Percent Differences in Median Salaries for Non-Tenure-Track Psychology Teaching Faculty by Academic Rank and Institution Type, 2016-17

Collective Bargaining

Table 8opens in new window (PDF, 278KB) displays salaries for non-tenure-track psychology faculty at public institutions, broken down by the presence or absence of collective bargaining units. As with tenured/tenure-track faculty, non-tenure-track psychology faculty at public institutions with collective bargaining units earned more than non-tenure-track-faculty employed at public institutions without collective bargaining units.

Table 8. Median Salaries for Non-Tenure-Track Psychology Teaching Faculty by Academic Rank for Public Institutions with and without Collective Bargaining Units, 2016-17

Figure 8opens in new window (PDF, 337KB) shows the percent difference in salaries for non-tenure-track psychology faculty by the presence or absence of collective bargaining units. For non-tenure-track faculty, psychology professors at public institutions with collective bargaining units earned $20,131 or 27 percent more than professors at public institutions without collective bargaining units. Assistant professors earned 7.7 percent more, and instructors earned 15.7 percent more. The only exception was associate professors, who earned 3.1 percent less at public institutions with collective bargaining units than those without collective bargaining. Collapsed across all academic ranks, psychology faculty at public institutions with collective bargaining units earned $9,134 or about 18.4 percent more than psychology faculty at non-unionized public institutions.

Figure 8. Percent Differences in Median Salaries for Non-Tenure-Track Psychology Teaching Faculty Employed at Public Institutions with and without Collective Bargaining Units, 2016-17

Comparison of Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Salaries to Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty Salaries

As shown in Table 9opens in new window (PDF, 270KB), for all academic ranks combined, non-tenure-track faculty earned less than tenured/tenure-track faculty. Collapsed across all academic ranks and institution types, non-tenure-track faculty earned approximately 76.6 percent of the median salaries earned by tenured/tenure-track faculty.

At private religious institutions, the median salaries for non-tenure-track faculty was 85.7 percent of the median salaries earned by tenured/tenure-track faculty. Likewise, the median salaries for non-tenure-track faculty at private independent institutions was 76.3 percent of that earned by tenured/tenure-track faculty. Finally, the median salaries for non-tenure-track faculty at public institutions was 69.7 percent of that earned by their tenured/tenure-track counterparts.

Table 9. Percentages of Median Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty Salaries Earned by Non-Tenure-Track Psychology Teaching Faculty, 2016-17
Note: Cells with sample sizes of five or less have been suppressed.

Psychology Faculty Salaries Compared to Other Disciplines

Psychology Versus Other Social Sciences

How do psychology faculty salaries compare to the salaries of faculty in other disciplines? For example, are psychology faculty salaries comparable to salaries earned by faculty in other social science disciplines? Table 10opens in new window (PDF, KB) illustrates median salaries for tenured/tenure-track faculty in psychology versus faculty employed in other, non-psychology social science disciplines, broken down by academic rank and institution type. Specifically, Table 10 compares salaries for faculty that fall under CIP code 42 (psychology) versus CIP code 45 (social sciences).²⁰ Overall, psychology faculty earned less than faculty in other social science disciplines.

Table 10. Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty and Faculty in other Social Science Disciplines by Academic Rank and Institution Type, 2016-17
Note: Cells with small sample sizes been suppressed.

Figure 9opens in new window (PDF, KB) displays the percent differences in median salaries between tenured/tenure-track faculty in psychology and other social science disciplines. For example, depending on the type of institution, social science professors earned between 1.1 to 7.3 percent more than psychology professors. Social science associate professors earned between 1.5 to 6.0 percent more than psychology associate professors. Finally, social science assistant professors earned between 0.4 to 4.6 percent more than psychology assistant professors. Finally, social science new assistant professors earned between 1.8 to 12.5 percent more than psychology new assistant professors.

Figure 9. Percent Differences in Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty and Faculty in other Social Science Disciplines by Academic Rank and Institution Type, 2016-17

Psychology Versus Other STEM, STEM-Related and Non-STEM Disciplines

How do median salaries for psychology faculty compare to salaries earned by faculty in other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)²¹ disciplines, as well as related disciplines where faculty with psychology doctorates are often employed, such as health professions (STEM-related)²² or education (non-STEM)? Compared to other STEM disciplines, psychology faculty tend to earn less, especially at doctoral institutions. Although median salaries for psychology faculty are higher than for education faculty, psychology salaries are generally less than salaries earned by faculty in engineering, computer and information sciences, health professions, biological and biomedical sciences and physical sciences. Median salaries between psychology faculty and mathematics and statistics faculty are more comparable.

Figure 10opens in new window (PDF, 278KB) shows psychology faculty salaries (represented by the + symbol) relative to faculty salaries in other STEM, STEM-related and non-STEM disciplines, broken down further by academic rank and Carnegie Classification of the institution.

Figure 10. Mean Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty and Faculty in other STEM, STEM-Related and Non-STEM Disciplines by Academic Rank and Carnegie Classification of Institution, 2016-17

Conclusion

The 2017 CUPA-HR Survey for Four-Year Colleges and Universities provided faculty salary data for 32 disciplines. Based on these survey data, the primary focus of this report was on salary data collected for psychology faculty. Salaries were broken down by variables such as academic rank, tenure status, institution type, Carnegie Classification of the academic institution, and the presence or absence of collective bargaining units. Comparisons were also made between psychology faculty salaries and faculty salaries in other social sciences. This year, comparisons of median salaries across gender, race/ethnicity and geographic location were also included. Additional comparisons were made between psychology faculty salaries and salaries earned by faculty in other STEM disciplines, as well as faculty in related disciplines, such as health professions (STEM-related) and education (non-STEM).

A comparison of tenured/tenure-track faculty salaries from 2015-16 and 2016-17 revealed that salaries for certain academic ranks and types of Carnegie classifications did not always increase at the same rate as inflation. Compared to the 2015-16 academic year, where salaries increased for all academic ranks from the previous year, median salaries for the 2016-17 increased less so. In some cases, median salaries remained relatively stagnant or even decreased slightly.

In general, tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty employed at private independent institutions had higher median salaries than psychology faculty at public or private religious institutions. When collapsed across all academic ranks, tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty employed at private independent institutions earned approximately 5.3 percent more than psychology faculty at public institutions, and 18.6 percent more than faculty at private religious institutions.

Likewise, non-tenure-track psychology faculty employed at private independent institutions had the highest median salaries, making 5.7 percent more than psychology faculty at private religious institutions, and 15.3 percent more than faculty at public institutions.

Median salaries also varied by geographic division. Tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty in the Pacific and New England geographic divisions had the highest median salaries, across all academic ranks. The lowest median salaries were reported for psychology faculty in the West North Central and East South Central divisions. These findings may not be surprising, considering that cost of living in areas like the Pacific and New England areas are higher than in other parts of the country.

For psychology tenured/tenure-track positions, the majority of faculty in the academic ranks of new assistant professor, assistant professor and associate professor were female. However, there was more male faculty (58 percent) than female faculty (42 percent) in the position of professor. Salaries between male and female faculty were also similar, with female faculty earning between 95 to 99 percent the salary male faculty earned.

Likewise, racial/ethnic minority psychology faculty in tenured/tenure-track positions earned salaries that were similar (or slightly surpassed) the salaries of white psychology faculty. However, fewer racial/ethnic minorities held these faculty positions than white faculty, particularly in higher academic ranks, such as assistant professor (33 percent) and professor (29 percent).

Tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty earned more than non-tenure-track faculty, across all academic ranks. Collapsed across academic rank and institution type (i.e., private independent, private religious and public), non-tenure-track faculty earned approximately 76.6 percent of the salaries earned by tenured/tenure-track faculty.

The presence of collective bargaining units in public institutions played a very important role in determining the salaries earned by psychology faculty. With the exception of new assistant professors, salaries were consistently higher across all academic ranks for psychology faculty whose public institution had a collective bargaining unit. This pattern of results was found for both tenured/tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty.

Tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty earned less on average than faculty in other social sciences. This pattern was found across all academic ranks, and for both public and private institutions. Although psychology is a STEM discipline, psychology faculty positions tended to pay less than faculty positions in other STEM disciplines. One reason for these findings may be due to the larger presence of women in psychology, compared to some other social sciences and STEM disciplines. Starting with the 2016-17 academic year, CUPA-HR began collecting gender and race/ethnicity data for faculty in higher education for the 2016-17 academic year. Future research may further examine this relationship between salaries and the proportions of female faculty in various social science and STEM disciplines.

One limitation of the data is that although an institution may be classified by the Carnegie Foundation as "doctoral", it is difficult to determine if the types of doctorates awarded at that institution include doctorates in psychology. Although most institutions classified as doctoral granting do award psychology doctorates, there is no simple way to determine if all doctoral-granting institutions in the CUPA-HR sample offer psychology doctorates.

Finally, although this report focuses on variables such as academic rank, tenure status, Carnegie Classification, and presence of collective bargaining units, CUPA-HR also collects additional data that are available through its "DataOnDemand" tool. This tool allows users to conduct peer comparison groups or breakdowns of faculty salaries by variables such as geographic location of institution, student size, level of instruction (i.e., undergraduate, graduate or both), NCAA division and more. For the first time, this report on psychology faculty salaries included geographic differences in salaries for the 2016-17 academic year. Additional DataOnDemand variables will be examined in future versions of this report.

Footnotes

1. Member organizations are primarily colleges and universities. For more information about CUPA-HR, see https://www.cupahr.org/opens in new window.
2. This survey was previously known as the "National Faculty Salary Survey."
3. Professors, associate professors, assistant professors and instructors working at least 75 percent full-time equivalent, have annual contracts or appointments of at least nine months, and whose teaching/research are more than 50 percent of their duties.
4. Data for pay-per-course adjunct were collected in CUPA-HR's 2016-17 survey for Four-year Colleges and Universities, but are not discussed in this report.
5. The U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics designed the CIP code system to provide a taxonomic scheme that supports the tracking, assessment and reporting of fields of study and program completions activity. A full listing of CIP codes can be found at https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/browse.aspx?y=55opens in new window.
6. CUPA-HR defines a new assistant professor as a new hire for the academic year being surveyed.
7. Both private independent and private religious institutions are non-public schools that are funded by their own resources, such as tuition charges and donations. However, private independent institutions are secular in nature, whereas private religious institutions are affiliated with a religious organization and incorporate general religious education into the curriculum in addition to secular subjects.
8. For more on the Carnegie Classification system, see https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup_listings/standard.phpopens in new window.
9. All salaries collected by CUPA-HR are for U.S. psychology faculty employed on a nine/10-month basis.
10. For more information on 2016 Consumer Price Index numbers for all urban consumers (CPI-U), see https://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpid1612.pdfopens in new window.
11. Constant dollars for the 2015-16 academic year were adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index data for the year 2016, see https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htmopens in new window.
12. For more information on psychology faculty salaries for the 2015-16 academic year, see https://www.apa.org/workforce/publications/16-faculty-salary/report.pdfopens in new window
13. Medians in this table and every table that follows in this report are unweighted.
14. Public and private institutions are covered by different labor laws. In a 1980 decision (NLRB v. Yeshiva University), the U.S. Supreme Court ended faculty collective bargaining at private institutions (although recent lower court rulings have allowed for it in some cases). For more information, see https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/444/672/opens in new window.
15. Data are reported only for positions having at least five responding institutions.
16. There are nine geographic divisions, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Geographic divisions include the following states: Pacific: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington. Mountain: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming. West South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas. West North Central: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota. East South Central: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee. East North Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin. South Atlantic: District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia. Middle Atlantic: New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania. New England: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont.
17. Median salaries reported by census division in this report exclude for-profit institutions.
18. Race/ethnicity questions were not answered by all respondents, resulting in a large "unknown race/ethnicity" cell for each academic rank.
19. As defined by CUPA-HR Faculty in Higher Education Salary Survey for the 2015-16 Academic Year: By Discipline, Rank and Tenure Status in Four-Year Colleges and Universities. Non-tenure-track psychology teaching faculty may include individuals with specific teaching expectations outside of the normal tenure expectations of teaching.
20. Social science disciplines such as political science, economics, sociology, anthropology and geography do not have their own individual CIP codes. Instead, they are combined together in CIP code [45]: Social Sciences.
21. STEM disciplines include computer science, mathematics, engineering, biological sciences, physical sciences and social sciences (which includes psychology).
22. Health professions are identified as "STEM-related" by the U.S. Census Bureau and includes dentists, chiropractors, clinical/medical laboratory services, optometry, veterinary medicine, mental/social health services, nursing and others. For additional information, see https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/cipdetail.aspx?y=55&cipid=88742opens in new window.
23. Additional data on geographic differences in median salaries for tenured/tenure-track psychology faculty were generously provided to APA by CUPA-HR.
24. For more information on CUPA-HR's DataOnDemand tool, see https://www.cupahr.org/surveys/dataondemand/opens in new window.

American Psychological Association (2017). Psychology faculty salaries for the 2015-2016 academic year: Results from the 2015 CUPA-HR survey for four-year colleges and universities. Washington, DC: Author.

Bichsel, J., McChesney, J., & Calcagno, Maria (2017). Faculty in Higher Education Salary Report: Key Findings, Trends, and Comprehensive Tables for Tenure Track, Non-Tenure Track Teaching, Non-Tenure Track Research Faculty; Academic Department Heads; and Adjunct Faculty at Four-Year Institutions for the 2016-17 Academic Year. Research report. Knoxville, TN: CUPA-HR.

Carnegie Commission on Higher Education (2010). The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup_listings/standard.phpopens in new window.

College and University Professional Association for Human Resources [CUPA-HR] (2016). Faculty in Higher Education Salary Survey for the 2015-16 Academic Year: By Discipline, Rank and Tenure Status in Four-Year Colleges and Universities. Knoxville, TN: Author.

Landivar, L. C. (2013). The Relationship between Science and Engineering Education and Employment in STEM Occupations. 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015). CPI Detailed Report: Data for December 2016. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpid1612.pdfopens in new window.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016). CPI Inflation Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htmopens in new window.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System [IPEDS] (2013). IPEDS glossary.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP). Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/browse.aspx?y=55opens in new window.

• Appendix A: Technical Documentationopens in new window (PDF, 281KB)
• Appendix B: Supporting Data for Figuresopens in new window (PDF, 313KB)

• Table 1: Number of Faculty and Institutions that Provided Salary Data for Psychology Faculty by Tenure Status, Institution Type and Academic Rank, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 273KB)
• Table 2: Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Academic Rank and Carnegie Classification of Institution (Constant and Adjusted Dollars), 2015-16 and 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 268KB)
• Table 3: Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Academic Rank and Institution Type, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 272KB)
• Table 4: Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Academic Rank for Public Institutions with and without Collective Bargaining Units, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 277KB)
• Table 5: Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Gender and Academic Rank, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 262KB)
• Table 6: Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Race/Ethnicity and Academic Rank, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 262KB)
• Table 7: Median Salaries for Non-Tenure-Track Psychology Teaching Faculty by Academic Rank and Institution Type, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 278KB)
• Table 8: Median Salaries for Non-Tenure-Track Psychology Teaching Faculty by Academic Rank for Public Institutions with and without Collective Bargaining Units, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 277KB)
• Table 9: Percentages of Median Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty Salaries Earned by Non-Tenure-Track Psychology Teaching Faculty, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 265KB)
• Table 10: Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty and Faculty in other Social Science Disciplines by Academic Rank and Institution Type, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 344KB)

• Figure 1: Percent Differences in Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Academic Rank and Carnegie Classification of Institution, 2015-16 to 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 365KB)
• Figure 2: Median Salaries and Salary Ranges for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Academic Rank, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 258KB)
• Figure 3: Percent Differences in Mean Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Academic Rank and Institution Type, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 284KB)
• Figure 4: Percent Differences in Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty Employed at Public Institutions with and without Collective Bargaining Units, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 260KB)
• Figure 5: Median Salaries and Salary Ranges for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty by Type of Institution, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 263KB)
• Figure 6: Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty by Academic Rank and Geographic Division, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 294KB)
• Figure 7: Percent Differences in Median Salaries for Non-Tenure-Track Psychology Teaching Faculty by Academic Rank and Institution Type, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 339KB)
• Figure 8: Percent Differences in Median Salaries for Non-Tenure-Track Psychology Teaching Faculty Employed at Public Institutions with and without Collective Bargaining Units, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 336KB)
• Figure 9: Percent Differences in Median Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty and Faculty in other Social Science Disciplines by Academic Rank and Institution Type, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 279KB)
• Figure 10: Mean Salaries for Tenured/Tenure-Track Psychology Faculty and Faculty in other STEM, STEM-Related and Non-STEM Disciplines by Academic Rank and Carnegie Classification of Institution, 2016-17opens in new window (PDF, 278KB)

Recommended citation: American Psychological Association (2017). Psychology faculty salaries for the 2016-2017 academic year: Results from the 2017 CUPA-HR survey for four-year colleges and universities. Washington, DC: Author.

This report describes research and analysis conducted by staff members of the American Psychological Association’s Center for Workforce Studies. It does not constitute official policy of the American Psychological Association.

The authors thank Jackie Bichsel, Jasper McChesney and Maria Calcagno for providing additional special analyses on psychology faculty presented in this report, and Jim Diaz-Granados and Howard Kurtzman for valuable input on previous drafts of this report.