College Relations
Study Finds Mass. State College Faculty Substantially Underpaid
September 28, 2004
Karen Cady at 978-542-7500, Director, College Relations
Study Finds Mass. State College Faculty Substantially Underpaid
Full professors earn $19,000 less than peers at public colleges when
adjusted for high cost of living in Massachusetts
A new study finds that faculty at the nine Massachusetts state colleges earn substantially less than their peers at public colleges in other leading industrial states. When the high cost of living in Massachusetts is factored in, state college faculty across all ranks earn 19% less than their peers, while full professors earn 22%, or nearly $19,000, less in income.
Even when substantial differences in cost of living are not taken into account, faculty at the Massachusetts state colleges receive 11% less than the average salary of their peers across all ranks. Full professors, who have attained the highest academic ranking, fare even worse, earning 14% less than their peers.
"These disturbing numbers call into question our future competitiveness as a state," said Pablo Nyarady, chairman of the Board of Trustees at Westfield State College. "Higher education is our stock-in-trade; more than any other state, Massachusetts depends on its public colleges to maintain our leadership in high technology, finance and other fields. But how can we continue to compete for the best faculty to educate our students and future workforce when we don't pay them what they're worth."
The shortcomings were starkest in those fields that are critical to the future growth of the Massachusetts economy. Accounting for differences in the cost of living, salaries for full professors in business administration and management were 29% (or $27,132) less than their peers; 25% (or $21,531) less in biology; and 19% less both in computer and information sciences and mathematics and statistics.
"I look at this less as an issue of raising salaries and more as an issue of providing the highest quality education for our students," said Deirdre Sartorelli, chairman of the Board of Trustees at Salem State College. "The failure to adequately compensate our faculty only compounds the low budgetary priority we already accord public higher education in this state."
"Low faculty salaries and the exceptionally high cost of living in Massachusetts are making it increasingly difficult for our colleges to remain competitive in recruiting and retaining the best teachers and scholars," stated Dr. Dana Mohler-Faria, president of Bridgewater State College and chairman of the Council of Presidents of the Massachusetts State Colleges.
The study was conducted jointly by the chairmen of the boards of trustees of the state colleges and by the Council of Presidents of the Massachusetts State Colleges. The study was based on data provided by the College & University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR). The data reflects faculty salary levels reported by rank and discipline in the 2003-04 annual CUPA-HR National Faculty Salary Survey.
"High quality public higher education is the fuel that makes the Massachusetts knowledge-based economy run," stated Katherine Sloan, president of the Massachusetts College of Art. "Other states increasingly realize how much their future economic growth and development rely upon the graduates of public colleges. Attracting and retaining the best professors-by providing competitive compensation-is at the core of our colleges' ability to succeed in educating the future working professionals of the Commonwealth."
To compensate for the high cost of living in Massachusetts, the study compared Massachusetts state college faculty against their peers with earnings at the 75th percentile. The 75th percentile is the same benchmark identified in a faculty salary compensation study completed for the Community Colleges under the auspices of the Board of Higher Education in August 1999.
The nine Massachusetts State Colleges are four-year, baccalaureate and master's degree-granting institutions with 45,000 students and more than 225,000 alumni. They include six comprehensive colleges that combine a liberal arts education with professional development training, which are located in Bridgewater, Fitchburg, Framingham, Salem, Westfield, Worcester, and three specialized colleges, including Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, Massachusetts College of Art in Boston and Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay.
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