NURSING FACULTY SALARIES
CONTINUE MODEST RISE,
AACN SURVEY FINDS
WASHINGTON, D.C.,
March 14, 1997 -- Among all full-time faculty, doctorally
prepared professors in nursing schools in the nation's universities
and four-year colleges are earning an average of $62,281
in the current 1996-97 academic year, up 4.4 percent above
a year ago, according to the latest salary survey by the
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).
Although doctorally
and nondoctorally prepared professors realized their highest
salary gains in public institutions (up 4.8 percent and
7.5 percent, to $63,122 and $58,856, respectively) above
a year ago, doctorally and nondoctorally prepared assistant
professors fared best at private religious institutions
(up 3.2 percent and 3.6 percent, to $42,990 and $36,412,
respectively).
The survey, conducted
in fall 1996, is AACN's 19th annual report of salaries for
full-time nursing faculty and is based on responses by 509
(77.3 percent) of the nation's nursing schools with baccalaureate
and graduate programs. It is also the first to break
out salaries for all full-time faculty members into two
separate categories: instructional and administrative faculty.
"Every year, educators and policymakers
rely on AACN for the most comprehensive and most current
salary information available for full-time nursing faculty
in the nation's universities and senior colleges," says
AACN President Carole A. Anderson, PhD, RN, FAAN. "By separating
out instructional and administrative salaries, we can now
provide users with data that more accurately reflects supplemental
income for faculty who devote 50 percent or more of their
time to administrative duties." Among all full-time nursing
faculty (9,472) at responding institutions this year, 14
percent (or 1,328) carry out administrative responsibilities
in such roles as associate and assistant dean or coordinator
of an academic program, the AACN survey reports.
For all full-time
faculty, average salaries this academic year range from
a low of $14,875 for an instructor without a doctoral degree
in a private secular school to a high of $126,029 for a
doctorally prepared professor in a public institution.
On average, all
ranks of full-time faculty saw salary gains this academic
year ranging from 0.1 percent to 9.7 percent above a year
ago. Nondoctorally prepared professors received the largest
increase (9.7 percent, to $57,375), followed by doctorally
prepared professors, and associate professors who hold the
doctorate (3.4 percent, to $51,098). Nondoctorally prepared
instructors experienced the smallest gain (0.1 percent,
to $35,183).
However, when categorized
by type of institution, salaries for some nondoctorally
prepared faculty in private secular schools saw decreases
compared to a year ago. Among these faculty, average earnings
for instructors fell by 6.1 percent, to $38,108.
Among instructional
faculty with doctoral degrees, salaries this academic year
range from $21,476 for an associate professor in a private
religious institution to $125,400 for a professor in a private
secular institution. On average, however, doctorally prepared
professors who are instructional faculty are earning $60,579,
followed by doctorally prepared associate professors ($49,741),
assistant professors ($43,762), and instructors ($40,187).
For instructional faculty without the doctorate, salaries
range from $14,875 for an instructor in a private secular
school to $96,000 for an assistant professor in a private
religious institution.
Regionally, average
earnings for doctorally-prepared professors on instructional
faculty range from $66,202 at schools in North Atlantic
states to $58,390 at Southern institutions.
Among administrative
faculty, doctorally prepared associate deans who also hold
the rank of professor and associate professor, respectively,
are earning an average of $68,908 and $62,572 this academic
year. Doctorally prepared program coordinators are earning
an average of $57,306 and $48,534, respectively, when also
holding the rank of professor and associate professor.
"Although we welcome even the modest
salary increases realized by faculty this year, particularly
in light of the mounting fiscal constraints in higher education,
key concerns remain," Dr. Anderson cautions.
"Schools of nursing not only supply
the largest health care profession with needed clinicians,
educators, researchers, and administrators, but must do
so now in higher numbers as health planners look to nursing
to bear expanded responsibility in delivering vital primary
and preventive care, addressing the needs of an increasingly
older population, and providing high-quality treatment for
persons living with chronic illness. Our ability to accomplish
this task will be eroded unless schools can offer salaries
that keep education an attractive career option for nurses
nationwide."
"Increasingly," Dr. Anderson explains,
"schools in need of talented educators must contend with
competition from private-sector employers, where opportunities
are fast expanding for master's-prepared, advanced practice
clinicians and for doctorally prepared nurses to fill such
posts as director of research."
Sixty-five percent
of all full-time faculty at schools responding to the AACN
survey teach in public institutions, followed by faculty
in private religious schools (21.8 percent), private secular
institutions (11.8 percent), and consortia (0.9 percent).
Of full-time faculty
at responding schools, 81.9 percent are working at universities,
with 16.5 percent based at four-year colleges. Thirty-seven
percent of schools responding to the AACN survey are part
of an academic health center. The majority of full-time
faculty at responding schools are assistant professors (39.7
percent), followed by associate professors (27.5 percent),
instructors (16.2 percent), professors (10.5 percent), and
some 6 percent classified as "other," such as lecturers,
visiting professors, and adjunct faculty.
Copies of the AACN
survey, 1996-1997 Salaries of Instructional and Administrative
Nursing Faculty in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in
Nursing, are available for $45.00 (plus $3.00 postage),
prepaid orders only, from AACN, Dept. 178, Washington, DC
20055-0178; (202) 463-6930, or order your copy here.
The American Association of Colleges
of Nursing is the national voice for university and four-year-college
education programs in nursing. Representing more than 580
member schools of nursing at public and private institutions
nationwide, AACN's educational, research, governmental advocacy,
data collection, publications, and other programs work to
establish quality standards for bachelor's- and graduate-degree
nursing education, assist deans and directors to implement
those standards, influence the nursing profession to improve
health care, and promote public support of baccalaureate
and graduate nursing education, research, and practice.
###
CONTACT: Robert Rosseter
(202) 463-6930, x231
rrosseter@aacn.nche.edu
