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Faculty Compensation at CU-Boulder Over Time, Compared to Other AAU U.S. Public Universities

Last updated June 2009

The University of Colorado at Boulder routinely compares salaries of CU-Boulder faculty to salaries at peer institutions, taken from a subset of U.S. public members of the American Association of Universities (AAU). Academic year 2007 salary figures are from January 1, 2007, which INCLUDES mid-year salary adjustments. For comparisons to CU system analysis done prior to AY 2006, please see the documentation on differences in average salary and compensation calculations.

Reported faculty salary and compensation comparisons are at the campus-by-rank level. Here we show salaries for full, associate, and assistant professor ranks only. Information on instructors is reported inconsistently across institutions so is not shown. Comparisons by college and department will be available later in the calendar year. For the most recent comparisons at the college and department level, please see the faculty salaries index page. The AAU public averages listed with the department/college comparisons do not match those shown here because we force other institutions' discipline mix to match the mix at CU-Boulder. Here we use all-campus reported averages for every institution.

All salaries are for academic years (9 months); we convert 12-month salaries (primarily at other institutions) to 9-month bases using the national-standard 9/11 multiplier. Year labels are fiscal years, e.g. "2006" means "2005-2006" with "2007 MY" representing AY 2007 salaries after mid-year salary adjustments. The institutions used in comparisons represent a subset of U.S. AAU public universities. In April 2002 we added all AAU members of the University of California to the subset used, with complete data from 1991-92. In April 2005 we added Texas A&M and SUNY-Stony Brook to the subset used, with complete data from 2001-02.

Major results

• In AY 2009 CU-Boulder average salaries measured as a percent difference from AAU public peer averages are some of the best over the last 10 years.
• Full professor average salary of 2.6 percent below the peer average is a ten year high and an increase of half a percentage point since AY 2008.
• Associate professor average salary is 5.0 percent above the peer average and is 1.1 percentage points higher than the previous high of 3.9 percent above in AY 2007.
• Assistant professor average salary is 3.1 percent above the peer average, which is 1.0 percentage point greater than the highest percentage difference of 2.1 percent above in AY 2008.
• CU-Boulder full professor average salary and total compensation (salary + benefits) improved relative to peers in AY 2009 and is at a ten year high.
• Average salaries for associate and assistant professors are above the peer average and at 10 year highs.
• Associate professor total compensation is above the peer average by 2 percent and assistant professor total compensation is about one percent above the peer average. Both ranks have increased 2 percentage points since AY 2008, a value which has placed both above the AAU average and at ten year highs.
• Over all ranks, CU-Boulder faculty are six tenths of a percent above the average salary of AAU peers, which is a ten year high in addition to being the first time CU-Boulder has been above the peer average over all ranks. When considering salary and benefits together, CU-Boulder professors are 1.7 percent below the peer average, which is an increase of 1.7 percentage points since AY2008 and a 10 year high.

Graphs and tables from 1998-99 through the current fiscal year -- based on unweighted averages of the peers listed in institutions used in comparisons. All peer institutions except Texas A&M and SUNY-Stony Brook are in every year shown.

• Percentage difference, UCB vs. peer average -- salaries; total compensation
• Dollar differences, UCB vs. peer average -- salaries; total compensation
• Actual UCB and peer averages -- full; associate; assistant; all ranks

Caution: Figures in the longitudinal graphs and tables may not exactly match those reported by AAUP since these data may reflect data corrections by institutions after submission to American Association of University Professors (AAUP). Figures shown for Boulder for 1999-2000 do not match those published by AAUP since we have corrected errors found after submitting our data to AAUP.

Excel workbook with figures for individual institutions for three time points over four years.

Last revision 06/03/09