5 Things To Know About Faculty Pay Today

Community college faculty see the largest advantage: at 2-year colleges, faculty who collectively bargain for their pay earned $19,000 more than their colleagues who worked in the same states but without union contracts in 2023, and they earned $25,000 more than 2-year faculty in states without collective bargaining. At research universities, the difference is also significant: union faculty earned $7,000 more, on average, than non-union faculty in the same states, and $17,000 more than their peers in states without collective bargaining.

At Hudson County Community College in New Jersey, pay wasn't the only reason that faculty overhauled and recharged their union in 2018-but it was among them. That year, Hudson faculty were among the lowest paid in the state. They had a contract that had expired two years earlier. And their union wasn't even holding meetings.

"We were in a pretty dire situation. People would get tenure, which is very difficult to do, but they'd still leave for jobs that paid more," recalls Tony Acevedo, a Hudson County Community College Professional Association (HCCCPA) leader. That year, a team of faculty members ran for office, promising to revitalize the union and make it a strong, inclusive force on campus.

And they did. Today, not only is almost every faculty member engaged in the union through member-led committees, but their average pay is approaching the state's median for community colleges. With a sharp focus on salary equity-that is raising the pay for its most underpaid members-the new union team bargained for raises ranging from 9 to 29.5 percent in year one of its first 3-year contract, followed by across-the-board 4 percent raises. In its second 3-year contract, the bargaining team followed up with raises that ranged up to 19 percent in year one, followed by across-the-board 3 percent raises. That contract expires next year.

Today, union meetings are active, participatory, and highly productive, says HCCPA President Michael Ferlise. There is more work to do, of course, but union members have shown their power and will be using it.

On average, women faculty were paid 85 percent of men's wages in 2023, which was about the same as the national disparity for all women workers in the U.S.