• Introduction
• Selected Results

This is the first E.D. TAB based on the 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:04), which describes faculty and instructional staff in public and private not-for-profit postsecondary institutions offering an associate's or higher degree in fall 2003. The employment status, race/ethnicity, gender, tenure status, and compensation of faculty and instructional staff are presented by institution type¹ and program area.²

The faculty³ component of the NSOPF:04 is the fourth data collection of postsecondary faculty and instructional staff at degree-granting institutions, following administrations of NSOPF in 1987–88, 1992–93, and 1998–99. NSOPF:04 is based on survey data collected from a nationally representative sample of about 35,000 faculty and instructional staff, using a web-based questionnaire that was either self-administered or conducted via telephone with a trained interviewer. Completed interviews were obtained from about 26,100 faculty and instructional staff, for a weighted response rate for the faculty component of 76 percent.⁴ The survey respondents represent an estimated 1.2 million faculty and instructional staff in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The population of faculty and instructional staff included instructional faculty, staff with instructional responsibilities, and faculty with no instructional responsibilities. Tables in this E.D. TAB include all survey respondents: instructional faculty, faculty with no instructional responsibilities (e.g., researchers with faculty appointments), and staff with instructional responsibilities regardless of faculty status. All comparisons made in the text were tested using Student's t statistic, and all differences cited were statistically significant at the .05 level.

NSOPF:04 covers a wide range of topics pertaining to faculty and instructional staff. The faculty questionnaire focused on the fall 2003 term, and included items relating to the nature of employment, academic and professional background, instructional responsibilities and workload, scholarly activities, job satisfaction and opinions, compensation, and sociodemographic characteristics.

• Among faculty and instructional staff in all institution types, 56 percent were employed full time and 44 percent were employed part time in fall 2003 (table 1).
• About two-thirds (67 percent) of faculty employed in public associate's institutions reported working part time, compared with 22 to 55 percent of faculty at other types of institutions (table 1).
• The largest proportion of full-time faculty and instructional staff were White (80 percent), compared with Asian/Pacific Islander (9 percent), Black (5 percent), Hispanic (3 percent), and other racial/ethnic groups (2 percent) (table 2).
• Full-time faculty and instructional staff in agriculture/home economics and fine arts were more likely to be White (88 percent) than faculty and instructional staff in business, education, engineering, health sciences, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences (69-83 percent) (table 2).
• Asian/Pacific Islander faculty represented a larger proportion of full-time (table 2) than part-time faculty (table 3). Nine percent of full-time faculty were Asian/Pacific Islander, compared with 4 percent of those employed part time.
• Full-time faculty and instructional staff were more likely to be male than female in fall 2003: 62 percent were male and 38 percent were female (table 4).
• Full-time faculty and instructional staff at public doctoral and private not-for-profit doctoral institutions were less likely to be female (32-33 percent) than those at public master's, private not-for-profit baccalaureate, and other institutions (41 percent each); private not-for-profit master's institutions (43 percent); and public associate's institutions (50 percent) (table 4).
• Gender differences in program area were apparent among full-time faculty and instructional staff at 4-year institutions (table 4). Male-dominated fields included engineering (90 percent were male, 10 percent were female), the natural sciences (77 percent were male, 23 percent were female), and business (73 percent were male, 27 percent were female). Education was the only program area with a larger proportion of women than men (58 percent were female, 42 percent were male).
• Women represented a larger proportion of part-time (table 5) than full-time faculty (table 4). Forty-eight percent of part-time faculty and instructional staff were women, compared with 38 percent who worked full time.
• The largest proportion of faculty and instructional staff employed full time in all institutions held tenure in fall 2003 (48 percent). Another 24 percent were not on the tenure track, compared with 21 percent who were on the tenure track and 8 percent who were employed in institutions that did not have a tenure system (table 6).
• The largest proportion of part-time faculty and instructional staff were not on the tenure track (86 percent), compared with 3 percent who were tenured, 2 percent who were on the tenure track, and 9 percent whose institutions had no tenure system (table 7).
• The average total income for the 2003 calendar year among full-time faculty and instructional staff was $81,200. This includes an average of $67,400 in basic salary from the institution, $5,000 in other income from the institution, $2,200 in outside consulting income, and $6,600 in other outside income⁵ (table 8).
• Health sciences faculty and instructional staff employed full time in 4-year institutions earned an average income of $116,600, the highest total income in 2003 compared with their peers in other program areas (table 8). In 2003, faculty and instructional staff in engineering earned $100,800, those in business earned $99,200, and those in other program areas earned between $66,000 and $86,000.
• Faculty and instructional staff employed part time had lower total incomes (table 9) than those who worked full time (table 8). However, outside income other than consulting income for faculty employed part time averaged $37,500, compared with $6,600 for those who were employed full time.

¹Type of institution is derived from the 2000 Carnegie Classification. See the glossary (appendix A in the full report) for more details.

² See appendix A in the full report for detailed descriptions of the teaching disciplines included in each program area.

³The terms "faculty" and "faculty and instructional staff" are used interchangeably in this E.D. TAB. Teaching and research assistants are not included in NSOPF.

⁴See the technical notes (appendix B in the full report) for more information on response rates and nonresponse bias analysis.

⁵These estimates include all full-time faculty and instructional staff, regardless of whether they earned a particular type of income for the 2003 calendar year. About 50 percent of faculty earned income from the institution other than basic salary, 30 percent earned consulting income, and 52 percent earned income from outside the institution other than consulting income for the 2003 calendar year. Among those full-time faculty who earned a particular type of income in 2003, the average amount earned was $10,000 for income from the institution other than basic salary, $7,400 for consulting income, and $12,600 for income from outside the institution other than consulting income. (NSOPF:04 Data Analysis System. Not shown in tables.)

Table 1. Percentage distribution of all faculty and instructional staff, by employment status, institution type, and program area: Fall 2003

²Doctoral includes research/doctoral institutions, and specialized medical schools and medical centers as classified by the 2000 Carnegie Classification.

³Public baccalaureate, private not-for-profit associate's, and other specialized institutions, except medical schools and medical centers.

NOTE: All faculty and instructional staff includes all faculty (regardless of whether they had instructional responsibilities) and all other instructional staff. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:04).

Table 2. Percentage distribution of all full-time faculty and instructional staff, by race/ethnicity, institution type, and program area: Fall 2003

²All public and private not-for-profit Title IV degree-granting institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

³Doctoral includes research/doctoral institutions, and specialized medical schools and medical centers as classified by the 2000 Carnegie Classification.

⁴Public baccalaureate, private not-for-profit associate's, and other specialized institutions, except medical schools and medical centers.

NOTE: All full-time faculty and instructional staff includes all faculty (regardless of whether they had instructional responsibilities) and all other instructional staff employed full time by their institutions. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:04).

Table 3. Percentage distribution of all part-time faculty and instructional staff, by race/ethnicity, institution type, and program area: Fall 2003

¹Black includes African American, Asian/Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian, Hispanic includes Latino, and Other includes American Indian/ Alaska Native and those who selected more than one race. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin unless specified.

²All public and private not-for-profit Title IV degree-granting institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

³Doctoral includes research/doctoral institutions, and specialized medical schools and medical centers as classified by the 2000 Carnegie Classification.

⁴Public baccalaureate, private not-for-profit associate's, and other specialized institutions, except medical schools and medical centers.

NOTE: All part-time faculty and instructional staff includes all faculty (regardless of whether they had instructional responsibilities) and all other instructional staff employed part time by their institutions. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:04).

Table 4. Percentage distribution of all full-time faculty and instructional staff, by gender, institution type,and program area: Fall 2003

²Doctoral includes research/doctoral institutions, and specialized medical schools and medical centers as classified by the 2000 Carnegie Classification.

³Public baccalaureate, private not-for-profit associate's, and other specialized institutions, except medical schools and medical centers.

NOTE: All full-time faculty and instructional staff includes all faculty (regardless of whether they had instructional responsibilities) and all other instructional staff employed full time by their institutions. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:04).

Table 5. Percentage distribution of all part-time faculty and instructional staff, by gender, institution type, and program area: Fall 2003

²Doctoral includes research/doctoral institutions, and specialized medical schools and medical centers as classified by the 2000 Carnegie Classification.

³Public baccalaureate, private not-for-profit associate's, and other specialized institutions, except medical schools and medical centers.

NOTE: All part-time faculty and instructional staff includes all faculty (regardless of whether they had instructional responsibilities) and all other instructional staff employed part time by their institutions. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:04).

Table 6. Percentage distribution of all full-time faculty and instructional staff, by tenure status, institution type, and program area: Fall 2003

²Doctoral includes research/doctoral institutions, and specialized medical schools and medical centers as classified by the 2000 Carnegie Classification.

³Public baccalaureate, private not-for-profit associate's, and other specialized institutions, except medical schools and medical centers.

NOTE: All full-time faculty and instructional staff includes all faculty (regardless of whether they had instructional responsibilities) and all other instructional staff employed full time by their institutions. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:04).

Table 7. Percentage distribution of all part-time faculty and instructional staff, by tenure status, institution type, and program area: Fall 2003

¹All public and private not-for-profit Title IV degree-granting institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

²Doctoral includes research/doctoral institutions, and specialized medical schools and medical centers as classified by the 2000 Carnegie Classification.

³Public baccalaureate, private not-for-profit associate's, and other specialized institutions, except medical schools and medical centers.

NOTE: All part-time faculty and instructional staff includes all faculty (regardless of whether they had instructional responsibilities) and all other instructional staff employed part time by their institutions. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:04).

Table 8. Average income of all full-time faculty and instructional staff, by source of income, institution type, and program area: 2003

²All public and private not-for-profit Title IV degree-granting institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

³Doctoral includes research/doctoral institutions, and specialized medical schools and medical centers as classified by the 2000 Carnegie Classification.

⁴Public baccalaureate, private not-for-profit associate's, and other specialized institutions, except medical schools and medical centers.

NOTE: All full-time faculty and instructional staff includes all faculty (regardless of whether they had instructional responsibilities) and all other instructional staff employed full time by their institutions. All faculty and instructional staff are included in averages, regardless of whether they had that type of income. Income is for the 2003 calendar year for faculty and instructional staff employed in the fall of 2003. Income excludes all reported nonmonetary income. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:04).

Table 9. Average income of all part-time faculty and instructional staff, by source of income, institution type, and program area: 2003

²All public and private not-for-profit Title IV degree-granting institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

³Doctoral includes research/doctoral institutions, and specialized medical schools and medical centers as classified by the 2000 Carnegie Classification.

⁴Public baccalaureate, private not-for-profit associate's, and other specialized institutions, except medical schools and medical centers.

NOTE: All part-time faculty and instructional staff includes all faculty (regardless of whether they had instructional responsibilities) and all other instructional staff employed part time by their institutions. All faculty and instructional staff are included in averages, regardless of whether they had that type of income. Income is for the 2003 calendar year for faculty and instructional staff employed in the fall of 2003. Income excludes all reported nonmonetary income. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:04).