Tag: CUPA-HR Research

Higher Ed Faculty Disciplines Are Shifting in Priority

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 19, 2025 Higher Ed Faculty Disciplines Are Shifting in Priority New Report From CUPA-HR Explores Changes in Faculty Size, Pay and Tenure Status for All Faculty Disciplines Over the Past Two Decades How has the higher education faculty workforce changed over the past 20 years? What disciplines have emerged... View Article

The Non-Exempt Staff Workforce in Colleges and Universities Is Shrinking

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 14, 2025 The Non-Exempt Staff Workforce in Colleges and Universities Is Shrinking Both Full-Time and Part-Time Staff Numbers Have Trended Downward Over the Past Seven Years New research from CUPA-HR shows that the number of non-exempt* staff employees in higher education has been on a steady decline for the... View Article

Voluntary Turnover in the Higher Ed Workforce Is Trending Downward

The workforce retention challenges higher education has been experiencing post-pandemic might just be letting up. A recent trend analysis of turnover data collected in CUPA-HR’s annual higher education workforce surveys found that in 2023-24, voluntary turnover rates for faculty and staff trended downward for the first time in three years. CUPA-HR began collecting turnover data... View Article

New Research From CUPA-HR Finds Disparities Persist in Representation and Pay Equity in Higher Ed Leadership Positions

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 5, 2023 New Research From CUPA-HR Finds Disparities Persist in Representation and Pay Equity in Higher Ed Leadership Positions CUPA-HR has published a new research report highlighting trends in representation and pay equity by gender among higher education administrators from 2002 to 2022, as well as trends in composition... View Article

Pay Equity Still Lags for Women Administrators

An analysis of two decades worth of CUPA-HR data on gender and pay in higher ed administrative roles paints a troubling picture of pay equity. In 2022, women made up 51% of administrators in college and universities, but they were paid 93 cents for each dollar a man in an administrator position was paid. This... View Article

Keys to Retaining Supervisors in a Time of Turnover

While the ongoing turnover crisis impacts all of higher ed, supervisors are among the hardest hit. In our recent study, The CUPA-HR 2023 Higher Education Employee Retention Survey, supervisors say they’re grappling with overwork and added responsibilities (especially when their staff members take other jobs), while struggling to maintain morale. Supervisor retention is especially critical... View Article

Hybrid, Remote and Flexible Work: The Secret Sauce for Employee Retention?

Given the number of employees who successfully executed their work remotely at the height of the pandemic, it may come as no surprise that a substantial gap exists between the work arrangements that higher ed employees want and what institutions offer. According to the new CUPA-HR 2023 Higher Education Employee Retention Survey, although two-thirds of... View Article

The Top Predictor of Higher Ed Employee Retention May Surprise You

In 2022-23, turnover of higher ed employees was the highest in five years. A new report from CUPA-HR explores the issue of higher ed employee retention and the factors that impact retention. The CUPA-HR 2023 Higher Education Employee Retention Survey analyzed data from 4,782 higher ed employees — administrators, professionals and non-exempt staff, with faculty excluded... View Article

Managing a Multi-State Workforce: Key Findings From the CUPA-HR Survey and a Public University’s Hybrid Approach

As higher ed institutions face pressure to fill open positions and offer more flexible work opportunities, many are responding by recruiting and hiring employees who live and work in a state different from where their institution’s primary campus is located. CUPA-HR’s Multi-State Workforce Survey was developed to better understand institutions’ policies, practices and challenges related... View Article

CUPA-HR Data Highlights Trends in Representation and Pay Equity in the Higher Education Workforce, and the News Is Mixed

When it comes to representation and pay equity for women and people of color in the higher education workforce, colleges and universities have frequently struggled to make meaningful progress. Through several new interactive graphics representing years of research, CUPA-HR shines a light on the progress that has been made and the disparities that persist. These... View Article

4 Considerations for Using Salary Data to Inform Compensation Decisions

Editor’s note: This blog post, originally published in April 2019, has been updated with additional resources and related content. Salary benchmarking is not one-size-fits-all — especially when you’re looking at groups as varied as administrators, professionals, staff and faculty on a college or university campus that is unique in its combination of Carnegie class, affiliation,... View Article

Employee Retention
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Employee retention has become a key topic of concern for higher ed employers. Many are struggling not only with high turnover rates, but with increased difficulty in sourcing and hiring qualified candidates for open positions. In May 2022, CUPA-HR research indicated that as many as 57 percent of current non-faculty employees surveyed were somewhat likely... View Article

2022 Data: Changes in Higher Ed Pay and Workforce Size

CUPA-HR has released its data on overall higher ed pay increases, as well as changes in workforce size for 2021-22. Higher Ed Pay Increases Have Not Kept Pace With Inflation The soaring inflation rate has far outpaced pay increases for the higher education workforce. According to findings from CUPA-HR’s annual workforce surveys for 2021-22, overall... View Article

New Report on the Representation of Women and Racial/Ethnic Minorities in the Workforce of Minority-Serving Institutions

Minority-serving institutions (MSIs) play an important role in ensuring students from underrepresented races and ethnicities receive a quality education. While there is an abundance of research on students who attend MSIs, little research has examined the MSI workforce, specifically, how the racial/ethnic representation of faculty, administrator, professional and staff reflects the student populations being served.... View Article

New Research Shows Women in the Leadership Pipeline in Higher Education Have Better Representation and Pay in Institutions With Female Presidents and Provosts

New research by CUPA-HR has found that U.S. colleges and universities with women presidents or provosts have higher representation of women in administrative, dean and faculty positions than institutions led by men. The study also found that colleges and universities with women presidents have higher pay for women in administrative positions than institutions led by... View Article

2021 Benefits Report Examines Higher Ed Parental Leave Practices and More

According to the CUPA-HR 2021 Benefits in Higher Education Annual Report, fewer than 40 percent of higher ed institutions offer paid parental leave to new parents. The recently released report examines the benefits offered to higher ed employees, including healthcare plans, wellness programs, paid time off, tuition benefits and retirement. For institutions that offer it,... View Article

Findings From CUPA-HR’s 2021 Staff in Higher Education Annual Report

The pandemic impacted every area of the higher ed workforce, including non-exempt employees. According to CUPA-HR’s recently released 2021 Staff in Higher Education Annual Report, the size of the non-exempt staff workforce saw a drastic decline during the pandemic, an understandable outcome given the number of non-exempt higher education employees whose work can only be... View Article

CUPA-HR Files Comments on Behalf of Higher Education to Inform DOL RFI on Prevailing Wage Levels for Foreign Workers

On June 1, CUPA-HR, joined by five other higher education associations, submitted comments in response to the Department of Labor’s Request for Information (RFI) about data and methods for determining prevailing wage levels for temporary and permanent immigrant and non-immigrant employees, including employees on H1-B visas. The DOL’s RFI was issued shortly before the agency... View Article

CUPA-HR Report Examines Professional Leadership Positions in Higher Education

Professional leadership positions in higher education often serve as the pipeline to higher-level administrative positions. For this reason, it is crucial to examine representation among these positions. CUPA-HR’s recently released 2020 Professionals in Higher Education Annual Report surveyed 396 professional positions. Of those positions, 38 percent are leadership positions that require supervising others or directing... View Article

Exploring the Presidential Pipeline in CUPA-HR Administrators in Higher Education Annual Report

As colleges and universities strive to create a more equitable and representative workforce, there has been increased emphasis on recognizing and exploring the pipeline that leads to leadership positions. The 2020 CUPA-HR Administrators in Higher Education Annual Report, released today, highlights data collected on the pipeline for three key positions: institution president/CEO, provost/chief academic officer... View Article