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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

(Worcester, MA – September 28, 2004) 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 18% 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 10% 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. 

“There is no question that we are beginning to lose our competitiveness as a state,” said Worcester State College Trustee Chair Barbara J. Sinnott. “Years of neglect to our public state college system are taking a toll.  If we do not address this issue now, we will begin to see an erosion of the high quality education of which we are so justly proud.  The Commonwealth can not afford to lose its competitive edge in education.”

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.

“This is not so much about raising salaries as it is providing the highest quality education possible to our students,” said Dr. Janelle C. Ashley, president of Worcester State College. “We raised the academic standards for acceptance making the state colleges more competitive, but if we can’t maintain the quality of our faculty due to non-competitive salaries we do our students a great disservice. Since 95% of Worcester State College’s students come from the Commonwealth, we are only short-changing ourselves."

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. 

“Attracting and retaining the best professors—by providing competitive compensation—is at the core of our ability to succeed in educating our next generation of leaders,” stated David A. Caruso, vice president for Academic Affairs at Worcester State College.  “We lose too many good professors to other states who are willing to pay them what they’re worth.”

To compensate for the high cost of living in Massachusetts, the study compared Massachusetts state college faculty against their peers with earnings at the 75^th percentile.  The 75^th 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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