Employees in Postsecondary Institutions, 

Fall 2009, and Salaries of Full-Time 

Instructional Staff, 2009-10

First Look

NCES 2011-150 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Employees in Postsecondary Institutions, 

Fall 2009, and Salaries of Full-Time 

Instructional Staff, 2009-10

First Look

NOVEMBER 2010

Laura G. Knapp 

Janice E. Kelly-Reid

Scott A. Ginder 

RTI International

NCES 2011-150

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
U.S. Department of Education

Arne Duncan

Secretary

Institute of Education Sciences

John Q. Easton

Director

National Center for Education Statistics

Stuart Kerachsky

Acting Commissioner

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Suggested Citation

Knapp, L.G., Kelly-Reid, J.E., and Ginder, S.A. (2010). Employees in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2009, and Salaries of FullTime Instructional Staff, 2009-10 (NCES 2011-150). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for 

Education Statistics. Retrieved [date] from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch. 

Content Contact

Aurora D’Amico

(202) 502-7334

aurora.damico@ed.gov
iii

Foreword 

This First Look presents findings from the Human Resources (HR) Component of the Integrated 

Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) winter 2009-10 data collection. The HR 

component consists of the following three sections: Employees by Assigned Position (EAP) and 

Fall Staff (S) for fall 2009 and Salaries (SA) for academic year 2009-10. All three sections of the 

HR component were required for the winter 2009-10 collection. The HR data were collected 

through the IPEDS web-based data collection system. 

The data on which this report is based are available to researchers and the public through the 

IPEDS Data Center, which can be found at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds. This First Look report 

continues the series of First Look reports based on the collection of data from over 6,700 

postsecondary education institutions that participate in Title IV federal student financial aid 

programs. 

The purpose of this report is to introduce new data through the presentation of tables containing 

descriptive information. As a result only selected findings are presented. These findings have 

been chosen to demonstrate the range of information available when using the IPEDS data rather 

than to discuss all of the observed differences, and they are not meant to emphasize any 

particular issue.

We hope that the information provided in the report will be useful to a wide range of interested 

readers. Further, we hope that the results reported here will encourage researchers and others to 

make full use of the IPEDS data for analysis, to perform comparisons of peer institutions, or to 

help answer questions about postsecondary education institutions. 

Thomas Weko 

Associate Commissioner 

Postsecondary, Adult, and Career Education Division 
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v

Acknowledgments 

The information presented in this publication was provided by either state coordinators for the 

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) or officials at individual institutions. 

In addition, these persons provided assistance in resolving questions about their submitted data, 

which resulted in more accurate information. Although it is not possible to list the names of all 

these people, their assistance was invaluable and is appreciated. 

The U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and the 

Office for Civil Rights, with the approval of the Office of Management and Budget, cooperate in 

the collection of racial/ethnic and gender information from all postsecondary institutions that 

participate in the Human Resources component of IPEDS. In this collaboration, data provided by 

postsecondary institutions are designated as Compliance Reports pursuant to the Civil Rights Act 

of 1964 (34 CFR 100.6(b)). 
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vii 

Contents 

Page

Foreword ....................................................................................................................................... iii

Acknowledgments ..........................................................................................................................v

List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. viii

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................10

IPEDS 2009-10 .............................................................................................................................1

Human Resources: Employees by Assigned Position, Fall Staff, and Salaries ............................1

Changes in Reporting Categories .................................................................................................2

Focus of This Report.....................................................................................................................2

Selected Findings ............................................................................................................................3

Staff at Title IV Institutions and Administrative Offices in the United States .............................3

Salaries of Full-Time Instructional Staff at Title IV Degree-Granting Institutions in the 

United States ..............................................................................................................................4

Appendix A: Survey Methodology .......................................................................................... A-1

Overview .................................................................................................................................. A-1

Universe, Institutions Surveyed, and Response Rates ............................................................. A-1

Survey Procedures ................................................................................................................... A-7

Inflation Adjustments .............................................................................................................. A-8

Human Resources Component Survey Sections ...................................................................... A-8

Changes in Reporting Categories .......................................................................................... A-11

Edit Procedures ...................................................................................................................... A-11

Imputation Procedures ........................................................................................................... A-12

Appendix B: Glossary of IPEDS Terms...................................................................................B-1
viii 

List of Tables 

Table Page

1. Number of staff at Title IV institutions and administrative offices, by employment 

status, medical school staff status, control of institution, and primary 

function/occupational activity: United States, fall 2009 ......................................................5

2. Number of staff at Title IV institutions and administrative offices other than 

medical schools, by level of institution, employment status, control of institution, 

and primary function/occupational activity: United States, fall 2009 .................................7

3. Number and percentage of full-time professional staff at Title IV degree-granting 

institutions and administrative offices, by control of institution, medical school 

staff status, level of institution, and faculty status: United States, fall 2009 .......................9

4. Number and percentage of instructional staff at Title IV degree-granting 

institutions other than medical schools, by sector of institution and employment 

status: United States, fall 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009 ......................................................10

5. Number and percentage of staff and new hires at Title IV institutions and 

administrative offices, by employment status, gender, and primary 

function/occupational activity: United States, fall 2009 ....................................................11

6. Number and percentage of full-time staff whose primary responsibility is 

instruction, research, and/or public service at Title IV degree-granting institutions 

and administrative offices, by faculty status, sector of institution, gender, and 

race/ethnicity: United States, fall 2009 ..............................................................................12

7. Number of full-time instructional staff at Title IV degree-granting institutions, by 

academic rank, control and level of institution, and gender: United States, academic 

year 2009-10 ......................................................................................................................13

8. Adjusted 9-month average salaries of full-time instructional staff at Title IV 

degree-granting institutions, by academic rank, control and level of institution, and 

gender: United States, academic year 2009-10 ..................................................................14

9. Number of full-time instructional staff and percentage change in full-time 

instructional staff at Title IV degree-granting institutions, by gender, sector of 

institution, and academic rank: United States, academic years 2003-04, 2005-06, 

2007-08, and 2009-10 ........................................................................................................15

10. Adjusted 9-month average salaries in constant 2009-10 dollars and percentage 

change in adjusted 9-month average salaries in constant 2009-10 dollars of fulltime instructional staff at Title IV degree-granting institutions, by gender, sector of 

institution, and academic rank: United States, academic years 2003-04, 2005-06, 

2007-08, and 2009-10 ........................................................................................................16
ix

List of Tables—Continued 

Table Page

A-1. Response rates of Title IV institutions and administrative offices responding to the 

IPEDS winter 2009-10 data collection, by survey component or section, degreegranting status, and level and control of institution: United States and other 

jurisdictions ..................................................................................................................... A-3

A-1a. Response rates of Title IV institutions and administrative offices responding to the 

IPEDS winter 2009-10 data collection, by survey component or section, degreegranting status, and level and control of institution: United States ................................ A-5

A-2. Number of staff, number of staff imputed, and percentages imputed for all Title IV 

institutions and administrative offices, by control of institution, employment status, 

primary function/occupational activity, degree-granting status, and medical school 

staff status: United States, fall 2009 ............................................................................. A-15

A-3. Number of staff and new hires, number of staff and new hires imputed, and 

percentages imputed for Title IV institutions and administrative offices, by control 

of institution, employment status, primary function/occupational activity, gender, 

and degree-granting status: United States, fall 2009 .................................................... A-16

A-4. Salary outlays, amounts imputed, and percentages of outlays imputed for Title IV 

degree-granting institutions, by control of institution, contract length, gender, and 

academic rank: United States, academic year 2009-10 ................................................ A-18

A-5. Fringe benefit expenditures, amounts imputed, and percentages of outlays imputed 

for Title IV degree-granting institutions, by control of institution, contract length, 

and benefit type: United States, academic year 2009-10 .............................................. A-19
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1

Introduction 

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) collects institution-level data 

from postsecondary institutions in the United States (50 states and the District of Columbia) and 

other jurisdictions.1

For IPEDS, a postsecondary institution is defined as an organization that is 

open to the public and has a primary mission of providing postsecondary education or training 

beyond the high school level. This definition includes institutions that offer academic, 

vocational, and continuing professional education programs and excludes institutions that offer 

only avocational (leisure) and adult basic education programs. IPEDS provides basic statistics on 

postsecondary institutions regarding tuition and fees, number and types of degrees and awards 

conferred, number of students enrolled, number of employees, financial statistics, graduation 

rates, and student financial aid. According to the Higher Education Amendments of 1992, IPEDS 

is mandatory for any institutions that participate in or are applicants for participation in any 

federal financial assistance program authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 

as amended. As a result of this mandate, IPEDS response rates are nearly 100 percent, and the 

resulting database is used as the principal sampling frame for other postsecondary surveys.

IPEDS 2009-10

Participation in IPEDS was required for institutions and administrative offices that participated 

in Title IV federal student financial aid programs such as Pell Grants or Stafford Loans during 

the 2009-10 academic year.2

Title IV institutions include 4-year colleges and universities, 2-year 

institutions, and non-degree-granting institutions (such as schools of cosmetology), among 

others. Accordingly, 6,896 institutions and 83 administrative offices (central or system offices) 

in the United States and other jurisdictions were expected to participate in the Human Resources 

(HR) component. 

After submitting fall 2009 data to IPEDS, 9 institutions closed, leaving 6,887 institutions and 83 

administrative offices in the United States and other jurisdictions that were required to complete 

the 2009-10 Human Resources component. 

Human Resources: Employees by Assigned Position, Fall Staff, and Salaries 

The HR component consists of three sections: Employees by Assigned Position (EAP), Fall 

Staff, and Salaries. 

 The EAP section, which collects the number of staff employed by each institution by medical 

school staff status, employment status (full or part time), faculty status, and primary 

function/occupational activity, was required of all 6,970 Title IV institutions and 

administrative offices, and 6,964, or 99.9 percent, responded (table A-1). 

 

1

 The other jurisdictions include American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the Marshall Islands, 

the Northern Marianas, Palau, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

2

 Institutions participating in Title IV programs are accredited by an agency or organization recognized by the 

Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, have a program of more than 300 clock hours or 8 credit hours, have 

been in business for at least 2 years, and have a signed Program Participation Agreement with the Office of 

Postsecondary Education, U.S. Department of Education. 
2

 The Fall Staff section was required of all 6,970 Title IV institutions and administrative 

offices, and 6,964, or 99.9 percent, responded3(table A-1). 

 The Salaries section was required of 4,455 Title IV entities, and 4,453, or 100.0 percent, 

responded (table A-1).4

Please refer to appendix A for a detailed description of the sections of the HR component. 

Changes in Reporting Categories

Beginning in fall 2008, several changes began to take effect regarding reporting of data by 

race/ethnicity.5

These changes are being phased in over several IPEDS collections. As a result of 

these optional reporting categories, caution should be exercised when drawing conclusions from 

the data presented in this First Look. Data presented in this report on staff of Two or More Races 

are based on only those institutions that reported using the optional new race/ethnicity categories 

and are not representative of all staff that could be classified into Two or More Races. 

Comparisons between data from prior IPEDS collections and the data presented in this First 

Look should also be undertaken with caution for the same reason. Please see the Changes in 

Reporting Categories section of appendix A for details. 

Focus of This Report 

Tabulations in this report present selected data items collected in winter 2009-10 from 6,813 

institutions and administrative offices in the United States (excluding those in other jurisdictions) 

that were required to respond to the HR component (table A-1a). This includes 6,733 Title IV 

institutions and 80 administrative offices. Additional HR data are available through the IPEDS 

Data Center.6

Several tables in this First Look display trends over time. In all trend tables (tables 4, 9, and 10), 

the time points displayed were chosen to demonstrate the range of data available from IPEDS for 

trend analysis, not to emphasize any particular period of change.

In the EAP section of the HR component, institutions with medical schools report their medical 

school employees separately from employees not working in medical schools to facilitate 

comparisons between similar institutions where one institution has a medical school and the 

other institution does not. Consequently, data reported in the EAP section are depicted separately 

for medical schools in this report. 

 

3

 The Fall Staff section is required in odd-numbered reporting years, such as fall 2009, and is optional in evennumbered years, such as fall 2008.

4 The Salaries section was applicable to degree-granting institutions except for those institutions at which all 

instructional staff were part-time, contributed their services, were in the military, or taught preclinical or clinical 

medicine. Two degree-granting institutions reported not only their own data, but also data for one non-degreegranting institution and one administrative office because the data from the degree-granting institutions could not be 

separated from the non-degree-granting institution and administrative office. The two additional entities are included 

in the universe and response rate numbers of the Salaries section.

5

 For more information, see http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/submit_data/changes0809.asp. 

6

 See http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds. 
3

Selected Findings 

Staff at Title IV Institutions and Administrative Offices in the United States 

Employees by Assigned Position 

 Institutions reported employing approximately 3.8 million individuals in fall 2009 (table 1),

of whom about 2.4 million were full-time employees and about 1.4 million were part-time 

employees.

 Institutions other than medical schools reported employing about 3.4 million individuals 

(table 1). Approximately 2.7 million were employed by 4-year institutions, 711,000 by 2-year 

institutions, and 49,000 by less-than-2-year institutions (table 2). 

 Of the approximately 1.4 million full-time professionals7reported to be employed at degreegranting institutions and administrative offices (excluding medical schools), 46 percent had 

faculty status: 21 percent with tenure, 9 percent on tenure track, 10 percent not on tenure 

track, and 7 percent who were employed by institutions without a tenure system (table 3). 

The remaining 54 percent of full-time professionals did not have faculty status. 

 From fall 2003 to fall 2009, the number of instructional staff reported to be employed at 

degree-granting institutions (excluding administrative offices and medical schools) increased 

for all sectors except 2-year private not-for-profit institutions (table 4). During this same time 

period, the proportion of these instructional staff who were full-time decreased. For example, 

the number of instructional staff at public 4-year institutions increased from about 370,000 to 

438,000, while the percentage of these staff classified as full-time decreased from 68 percent 

to 64 percent. 

Fall Staff at Degree-Granting Institutions 

 Institutions8reported hiring 113,000 new full-time employees in the 4-month period ending 

October 31, 2009 (table 5). Instruction, research, and/or public service was the primary 

responsibility of 35 percent of the new hires.9

 Institutions8 reported that 65 percent of full-time faculty with tenure were men, and 35 

percent were women (table 6). 

 Institutions reported that 81 percent of full-time faculty with tenure were White; 8 percent 

were Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander; 5 percent were African American or Black; 

and 4 percent were Hispanic (table 6). 

 

7

 Full-time professional employees include those whose responsibilities are classified as primarily instruction, 

instruction combined with research/public service, primarily research, primarily public service, 

executive/administrative/managerial, or other professional (support/service). 

8

 Data are for degree-granting institutions and administrative offices with 15 or more full-time staff. 

9

 New hires include full-time permanent staff who were included on the payroll of the institution between July 1 and 

October 31, 2009, either for the first time (new to the institution) or after a break in service AND who were still on 

the payroll of the institution as of November 1, 2009. New hires do not include persons who have returned from 

sabbatical leave or full-time faculty working less-than-9-month contracts/teaching periods. New hires were included 

in the counts of all staff. 
4

Salaries of Full-Time Instructional Staff at Title IV Degree-Granting Institutions in 

the United States 

 Of the nearly 584,000 reported instructional staff, 152,000 were professors, 127,000 were 

associate professors, 133,000 were assistant professors, 95,000 were instructors, and 28,000

were lecturers (table 7). The remaining 49,000 instructional staff had no academic rank.10

 Based on adjusted 9-month average salaries,11 institutions reported that, on average,

professors earned approximately $103,000, associate professors earned $74,000, assistant 

professors earned $62,000, instructors earned $53,000, lecturers earned $54,000, and those 

with no academic rank earned $55,000 (table 8). 

 More men than women were employed as professors at 4-year institutions between 2003-04 

and 2009-10 (table 9). However, during this period, the percentage change in the number of 

professors was higher for women. For example, the number of men at public institutions 

decreased by 4 percent while the number of women increased by 24 percent; at private notfor-profit institutions, the number of men increased by 1 percent and the number of women 

increased by 26 percent; and at private for-profit institutions, the number of men increased by 

50 percent while the number of women increased by 73 percent. 

 Professors at 4-year private not-for-profit institutions were reported to have earned the 

highest adjusted 9-month average salaries (table 10). In 2009-10, male professors earned 

$114,000, an inflation-adjusted increase of 6 percent from their 2003-04 salaries, and female 

professors earned $99,000, an inflation-adjusted increase of 6 percent from their 2003-04 

salaries.

 

10 Full-time instructional staff not classified into the standard academic ranks of professor, associate professor, 

assistant professor, instructor, or lecturer are included under the category of no academic rank. 

11 Total salary outlays for full-time instructional staff (by rank) on 11/12-month contracts were adjusted to 9/10-

month outlays by multiplying the outlay for 11/12-month contracted staff by 0.8182. The ―equated‖ outlays were 

then added to the outlays for 9/10-month staff, and the resulting sum was then divided by the total number of fulltime instructional staff to determine an average salary for each rank. Salaries for staff on less-than-9-month contracts 

were not collected. 
5

Table 1. Number of staff at Title IV institutions and administrative offices, by employment status, medical school 

staff status, control of institution, and primary function/occupational activity: United States, fall 2009

Control of institution and primary 

function/occupational activity

Total Full time Part time

Total

Staff 

(except 

those in 

medical 

schools)

Medical 

school 

staff1Total

Staff 

(except 

those in 

medical 

schools)

Medical 

school 

staff1Total

Staff 

(except 

those in 

medical 

schools)

Medical 

school 

staff1

Total 3,794,500 3,422,200 372,300 2,430,250 2,123,161 307,089 1,364,250 1,299,039 65,211

Staff whose primary responsibility is 

instruction, research, and/or public 

service 1,476,775 1,360,220 116,555 749,677 650,973 98,704 727,098 709,247 17,851

Primarily instruction 1,140,545 1,107,081 33,464 492,839 466,029 26,810 647,706 641,052 6,654

Instruction/research/public service 252,819 196,625 56,194 191,671 142,514 49,157 61,148 54,111 7,037

Primarily research 59,271 41,414 17,857 48,877 33,554 15,323 10,394 7,860 2,534

Primarily public service 24,140 15,100 9,040 16,290 8,876 7,414 7,850 6,224 1,626

Executive/administrative/managerial 239,957 219,696 20,261 231,025 211,708 19,317 8,932 7,988 944

Other professional (support/service) 778,892 658,541 120,351 675,966 571,379 104,587 102,926 87,162 15,764

Graduate assistants2342,393 321,703 20,690 † † † 342,393 321,703 20,690

Technical and paraprofessionals 204,440 167,010 37,430 160,999 128,162 32,837 43,441 38,848 4,593

Clerical and secretarial 451,147 403,299 47,848 354,825 311,313 43,512 96,322 91,986 4,336

Skilled crafts 63,007 61,634 1,373 60,268 58,933 1,335 2,739 2,701 38

Service/maintenance 237,889 230,097 7,792 197,490 190,693 6,797 40,399 39,404 995

Public 2,463,675 2,250,282 213,393 1,539,309 1,367,952 171,357 924,366 882,330 42,036

Staff whose primary responsibility is 

instruction, research, and/or 

public service 926,945 861,206 65,739 484,575 429,214 55,361 442,370 431,992 10,378

Primarily instruction 701,927 680,174 21,753 315,121 297,595 17,526 386,806 382,579 4,227

Instruction/research/public service 171,758 140,860 30,898 129,319 102,688 26,631 42,439 38,172 4,267

Primarily research 36,317 26,462 9,855 29,457 20,897 8,560 6,860 5,565 1,295

Primarily public service 16,943 13,710 3,233 10,678 8,034 2,644 6,265 5,676 589

Executive/administrative/managerial 113,439 105,912 7,527 108,586 101,541 7,045 4,853 4,371 482

Other professional (support/service) 504,665 427,584 77,081 435,369 368,823 66,546 69,296 58,761 10,535

Graduate assistants2275,872 260,723 15,149 † † † 275,872 260,723 15,149

Technical and paraprofessionals 149,810 130,539 19,271 115,862 99,224 16,638 33,948 31,315 2,633

Clerical and secretarial 286,934 262,204 24,730 216,981 194,657 22,324 69,953 67,547 2,406

Skilled crafts 47,733 47,048 685 45,776 45,121 655 1,957 1,927 30

Service/maintenance 158,277 155,066 3,211 132,160 129,372 2,788 26,117 25,694 423

Private not-for-profit 1,078,504 919,597 158,907 750,749 615,017 135,732 327,755 304,580 23,175

Staff whose primary responsibility is 

instruction, research, and/or 

public service 411,003 360,187 50,816 228,013 184,670 43,343 182,990 175,517 7,473

Primarily instruction 302,408 290,697 11,711 142,612 133,328 9,284 159,796 157,369 2,427

Instruction/research/public service 78,502 53,206 25,296 60,401 37,875 22,526 18,101 15,331 2,770

Primarily research 22,942 14,940 8,002 19,412 12,649 6,763 3,530 2,291 1,239

Primarily public service 7,151 1,344 5,807 5,588 818 4,770 1,563 526 1,037

Executive/administrative/managerial 99,677 86,943 12,734 96,339 84,067 12,272 3,338 2,876 462

Other professional (support/service) 224,131 180,861 43,270 193,066 155,025 38,041 31,065 25,836 5,229

Graduate assistants266,252 60,711 5,541 † † † 66,252 60,711 5,541

Technical and paraprofessionals 48,143 29,984 18,159 40,472 24,273 16,199 7,671 5,711 1,960

Clerical and secretarial 138,528 115,410 23,118 115,770 94,582 21,188 22,758 20,828 1,930

Skilled crafts 14,875 14,187 688 14,222 13,542 680 653 645 8

Service/maintenance 75,895 71,314 4,581 62,867 58,858 4,009 13,028 12,456 572

See notes at end of table. 
6

Table 1. Number of staff at Title IV institutions and administrative offices, by employment status, medical school 

staff status, control of institution, and primary function/occupational activity: United States, fall 2009—

Continued

Control of institution and primary 

function/occupational activity

Total Full time Part time

Total

Staff 

(except 

those in 

medical 

schools)

Medical 

school 

staff1Total

Staff 

(except 

those in 

medical 

schools)

Medical 

school 

staff1Total

Staff 

(except 

those in 

medical 

schools)

Medical 

school 

staff1

Private for-profit 252,321 252,321 † 140,192 140,192 † 112,129 112,129 †

Staff whose primary responsibility is 

instruction, research, and/or 

public service 138,827 138,827 † 37,089 37,089 † 101,738 101,738 †

Primarily instruction 136,210 136,210 † 35,106 35,106 † 101,104 101,104 †

Instruction/research/public service 2,559 2,559 † 1,951 1,951 † 608 608 †

Primarily research 12 12 † 8 8 † 4 4 †

Primarily public service 46 46 † 24 24 † 22 22 †

Executive/administrative/managerial 26,841 26,841 † 26,100 26,100 † 741 741 †

Other professional (support/service) 50,096 50,096 † 47,531 47,531 † 2,565 2,565 †

Graduate assistants2269 269 † † † † 269 269 †

Technical and paraprofessionals 6,487 6,487 † 4,665 4,665 † 1,822 1,822 †

Clerical and secretarial 25,685 25,685 † 22,074 22,074 † 3,611 3,611 †

Skilled crafts 399 399 † 270 270 † 129 129 †

Service/maintenance 3,717 3,717 † 2,463 2,463 † 1,254 1,254 †

† Not applicable. 

1Medical schools are defined as those with Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) and/or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) programs. Also includes health or 

allied health schools or departments that are affiliated with (housed in or under the authority of) the medical school.

2

By definition, all graduate assistants are part-time.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), 

Winter 2009-10, Human Resources component, Employees by Assigned Position section.
7

Table 2. Number of staff at Title IV institutions and administrative offices other than medical schools, by 

level of institution, employment status, control of institution, and primary function/occupational 

activity: United States, fall 2009

Control of institution and primary 

function/occupational activity

4-year 2-year Less-than-2-year

Total Full time Part time Total Full time Part time Total Full time Part time

Total 2,661,882 1,739,480 922,402 711,210 350,314 360,896 49,108 33,367 15,741

Staff whose primary responsibility is 

instruction, research, and/or public 

service 922,027 505,782 416,245 412,636 131,508 281,128 25,557 13,683 11,874

Primarily instruction 682,480 323,992 358,488 399,044 128,354 270,690 25,557 13,683 11,874

Instruction/research/public service 186,997 139,700 47,297 9,628 2,814 6,814 † † †

Primarily research 41,358 33,515 7,843 56 39 17 † † †

Primarily public service 11,192 8,575 2,617 3,908 301 3,607 † † †

Executive/administrative/managerial 175,749 169,358 6,391 36,819 35,684 1,135 7,128 6,666 462

Other professional (support/service) 574,134 505,160 68,974 78,144 60,751 17,393 6,263 5,468 795

Graduate assistants1321,703 † 321,703 † † † † † †

Technical and paraprofessionals 119,910 97,556 22,354 45,373 29,484 15,889 1,727 1,122 605

Clerical and secretarial 303,471 246,833 56,638 93,534 59,540 33,994 6,294 4,940 1,354

Skilled crafts 55,279 53,503 1,776 6,062 5,236 826 293 194 99

Service/maintenance 189,609 161,288 28,321 38,642 28,111 10,531 1,846 1,294 552

Public 1,590,357 1,053,212 537,145 648,642 308,579 340,063 11,283 6,161 5,122

Staff whose primary responsibility is 

instruction, research, and/or 

public service 474,183 310,279 163,904 379,816 115,874 263,942 7,207 3,061 4,146

Primarily instruction 306,405 181,719 124,686 366,562 112,815 253,747 7,207 3,061 4,146

Instruction/research/public 

service 131,534 99,958 31,576 9,326 2,730 6,596 † † †

Primarily research 26,415 20,861 5,554 47 36 11 † † †

Primarily public service 9,829 7,741 2,088 3,881 293 3,588 † † †

Executive/administrative/managerial 76,830 73,337 3,493 28,374 27,563 811 708 641 67

Other professional (support/service) 359,749 317,558 42,191 67,011 50,606 16,405 824 659 165

Graduate assistants1260,723 † 260,723 † † † † † †

Technical and paraprofessionals 86,033 70,484 15,549 44,029 28,472 15,557 477 268 209

Clerical and secretarial 174,403 139,759 34,644 86,597 53,982 32,615 1,204 916 288

Skilled crafts 41,076 39,962 1,114 5,875 5,110 765 97 49 48

Service/maintenance 117,360 101,833 15,527 36,940 26,972 9,968 766 567 199

Private not-for-profit 908,141 607,714 300,427 9,206 5,556 3,650 2,250 1,747 503

Staff whose primary responsibility is 

instruction, research, and/or 

public service 354,088 181,756 172,332 5,147 2,306 2,841 952 608 344

Primarily instruction 284,664 130,433 154,231 5,081 2,287 2,794 952 608 344

Instruction/research/public 

service 53,148 37,858 15,290 58 17 41 † † †

Primarily research 14,937 12,648 2,289 3 1 2 † † †

Primarily public service 1,339 817 522 5 1 4 † † †

Executive/administrative/managerial 85,452 82,685 2,767 1,131 1,038 93 360 344 16

Other professional (support/service) 179,184 153,636 25,548 1,271 1,021 250 406 368 38

Graduate assistants160,711 † 60,711 † † † † † †

Technical and paraprofessionals 29,619 24,004 5,615 275 210 65 90 59 31

Clerical and secretarial 114,251 93,730 20,521 813 557 256 346 295 51

Skilled crafts 14,133 13,495 638 50 45 5 4 2 2

Service/maintenance 70,703 58,408 12,295 519 379 140 92 71 21

See notes at end of table. 
8

Table 2. Number of staff at Title IV institutions and administrative offices other than medical schools, by 

level of institution, employment status, control of institution, and primary function/occupational 

activity: United States, fall 2009—Continued

Control of institution and primary 

function/occupational activity

4-year 2-year Less-than-2-year

Total Full time Part time Total Full time Part time Total Full time Part time

Private for-profit 163,384 78,554 84,830 53,362 36,179 17,183 35,575 25,459 10,116

Staff whose primary responsibility is 

instruction, research, and/or 

public service 93,756 13,747 80,009 27,673 13,328 14,345 17,398 10,014 7,384

Primarily instruction 91,411 11,840 79,571 27,401 13,252 14,149 17,398 10,014 7,384

Instruction/research/public 

service 2,315 1,884 431 244 67 177 † † †

Primarily research 6 6 0 6 2 4 † † †

Primarily public service 24 17 7 22 7 15 † † †

Executive/administrative/managerial 13,467 13,336 131 7,314 7,083 231 6,060 5,681 379

Other professional (support/service) 35,201 33,966 1,235 9,862 9,124 738 5,033 4,441 592

Graduate assistants1269 † 269 † † † † † †

Technical and paraprofessionals 4,258 3,068 1,190 1,069 802 267 1,160 795 365

Clerical and secretarial 14,817 13,344 1,473 6,124 5,001 1,123 4,744 3,729 1,015

Skilled crafts 70 46 24 137 81 56 192 143 49

Service/maintenance 1,546 1,047 499 1,183 760 423 988 656 332

† Not applicable.

1

By definition, all graduate assistants are part-time.

NOTE: Medical schools are defined as those with Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) and/or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) programs. 

Also includes health or allied health schools or departments that are affiliated with (housed in or under the authority of) the medical 

school.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 

(IPEDS), Winter 2009-10, Human Resources component, Employees by Assigned Position section.
9

Table 3. Number and percentage of full-time professional staff at Title IV degree-granting institutions 

and administrative offices, by control of institution, medical school staff status, level of 

institution, and faculty status: United States, fall 2009

Medical school staff status, level of 

institution, and faculty status

Number Percent

Total Public

Private 

not-forprofit

Private 

forprofit Total Public

Private 

not-forprofit

Private 

forprofit

Total staff11,619,517 1,019,831 514,725 84,961 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Staff (except those in medical 

schools2) 1,396,909 890,879 421,069 84,961 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

With faculty status 647,790 442,260 179,881 25,649 46.4 49.6 42.7 30.2

With tenure 291,594 212,553 78,619 422 20.9 23.9 18.7 0.5

On tenure track 121,406 85,134 36,117 155 8.7 9.6 8.6 0.2

Not on tenure track 142,405 100,515 41,785 105 10.2 11.3 9.9 0.1

No tenure system 92,385 44,058 23,360 24,967 6.6 4.9 5.5 29.4

Without faculty status 749,119 448,619 241,188 59,312 53.6 50.4 57.3 69.8

4-year 1,180,153 701,151 417,953 61,049 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

With faculty status 519,268 326,684 178,238 14,346 44.0 46.6 42.6 23.5

With tenure 244,358 165,587 78,513 258 20.7 23.6 18.8 0.4

On tenure track 104,994 68,798 36,061 135 8.9 9.8 8.6 0.2

Not on tenure track 131,354 89,652 41,598 104 11.1 12.8 10.0 0.2

No tenure system 38,562 2,647 22,066 13,849 3.3 0.4 5.3 22.7

Without faculty status 660,885 374,467 239,715 46,703 56.0 53.4 57.4 76.5

2-year 216,756 189,728 3,116 23,912 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

With faculty status 128,522 115,576 1,643 11,303 59.3 60.9 52.7 47.3

With tenure 47,236 46,966 106 164 21.8 24.8 3.4 0.7

On tenure track 16,412 16,336 56 20 7.6 8.6 1.8 0.1

Not on tenure track 11,051 10,863 187 1 5.1 5.7 6.0 0.0

No tenure system 53,823 41,411 1,294 11,118 24.8 21.8 41.5 46.5

Without faculty status 88,234 74,152 1,473 12,609 40.7 39.1 47.3 52.7

Medical school staff2222,608 128,952 93,656 † 100.0 100.0 100.0 †

With faculty status 95,087 55,967 39,120 † 42.7 43.4 41.8 †

With tenure 21,150 13,614 7,536 † 9.5 10.6 8.0 †

On tenure track 17,161 7,545 9,616 † 7.7 5.9 10.3 †

Not on tenure track 56,345 34,808 21,537 † 25.3 27.0 23.0 †

No tenure system 431 0 431 † 0.2 0.0 0.5 †

Without faculty status 127,521 72,985 54,536 † 57.3 56.6 58.2 †

† Not applicable.

1Data are from degree-granting institutions only. The number of staff displayed in this table will not be equal to corresponding values 

from table 1.

2Medical schools are defined as those with Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) and/or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) programs. Also 

includes health or allied health schools or departments that are affiliated with (housed in or under the authority of) the medical school.

NOTE: Full-time professional staff include those staff in the following positions: primarily instruction, instruction combined with research 

and/or public service, primarily research, primarily public service, executive/administrative/managerial, and other professional 

(support/service). Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 

(IPEDS), Winter 2009-10, Human Resources component, Employees by Assigned Position section.
10

Table 4. Number and percentage of instructional staff at Title IV degree-granting institutions 

other than medical schools, by sector of institution and employment status: United 

States, fall 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009

Sector of institution and 

employment status

Fall 2003 Fall 2005 Fall 2007 Fall 2009

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Public 4-year 369,635 100.0 387,230 100.0 419,519 100.0 437,858 100.0

Full time 249,610 67.5 257,968 66.6 272,461 64.9 281,610 64.3

Part time 120,025 32.5 129,262 33.4 147,058 35.1 156,248 35.7

Public 2-year 343,559 100.0 351,527 100.0 355,598 100.0 369,363 100.0

Full time 110,426 32.1 111,346 31.7 112,597 31.7 112,473 30.5

Part time 233,133 67.9 240,181 68.3 243,001 68.3 256,890 69.5

Private not-for-profit 4-year 286,610 100.0 299,989 100.0 318,905 100.0 337,742 100.0

Full time 149,849 52.3 154,536 51.5 162,086 50.8 168,240 49.8

Part time 136,761 47.7 145,453 48.5 156,819 49.2 169,502 50.2

Private not-for-profit 2-year 4,048 100.0 4,095 100.0 3,479 100.0 3,708 100.0

Full time 1,960 48.4 1,896 46.3 1,544 44.4 1,427 38.5

Part time 2,088 51.6 2,199 53.7 1,935 55.6 2,281 61.5

Private for-profit 4-year 39,144 100.0 73,342 100.0 90,226 100.0 93,707 100.0

Full time 6,874 17.6 10,439 14.2 10,856 12.0 13,724 14.6

Part time 32,270 82.4 62,903 85.8 79,370 88.0 79,983 85.4

Private for-profit 2-year 16,069 100.0 16,857 100.0 18,098 100.0 23,139 100.0

Full time 7,754 48.3 8,252 49.0 8,358 46.2 10,295 44.5

Part time 8,315 51.7 8,605 51.0 9,740 53.8 12,844 55.5

NOTE: Graduate assistants are not included in this table. Instructional staff are those reported as “primarily instruction” or 

“instruction combined with research and/or public service.” Medical schools are defined as those with Doctor of Medicine 

(M.D.) and/or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) programs. Also includes health or allied health schools or departments 

that are affiliated with (housed in or under the authority of) the medical school.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education 

Data System (IPEDS), Winter 2003-04, Employees by Assigned Position component, and Winter 2005-06, Winter 2007-08, 

and Winter 2009-10, Human Resources component, Employees by Assigned Position section.
11

Table 5. Number and percentage of staff and new hires at Title IV institutions and administrative offices, by 

employment status, gender, and primary function/occupational activity: United States, fall 2009

Primary function/occupational activity

Total Full time Part time Men Women

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Total (degree-granting and non-degree-granting institutions and administrative offices)1

Total, all institutions 3,794,500 100.0 2,430,250 100.0 1,364,250 100.0 1,733,906 100.0 2,060,594 100.0

All staff

Professional staff 2,838,017 74.8 1,656,668 68.2 1,181,349 86.6 1,373,520 79.2 1,464,497 71.1

Staff whose primary responsibility 

is instruction, research, 

and/or public service 1,476,775 38.9 749,677 30.8 727,098 53.3 774,954 44.7 701,821 34.1

Executive/administrative/ 

managerial 239,957 6.3 231,025 9.5 8,932 0.7 110,103 6.3 129,854 6.3

Other professional (support/ 

service) 778,892 20.5 675,966 27.8 102,926 7.5 307,522 17.7 471,370 22.9

Graduate assistants2342,393 9.0 † † 342,393 25.1 180,941 10.4 161,452 7.8

Nonprofessional staff 956,483 25.2 773,582 31.8 182,901 13.4 360,386 20.8 596,097 28.9

Technical and paraprofessionals 204,440 5.4 160,999 6.6 43,441 3.2 84,206 4.9 120,234 5.8

Clerical and secretarial 451,147 11.9 354,825 14.6 96,322 7.1 67,722 3.9 383,425 18.6

Skilled crafts 63,007 1.7 60,268 2.5 2,739 0.2 58,631 3.4 4,376 0.2

Service/maintenance 237,889 6.3 197,490 8.1 40,399 3.0 149,827 8.6 88,062 4.3

Degree-granting institutions and administrative offices with 15 or more full-time staff only

New hires (full time only)3112,844 100.0 112,844 100.0 † † 50,899 100.0 61,945 100.0

Professional staff 83,131 73.7 83,131 73.7 † † 39,375 77.4 43,756 70.6

Staff whose primary responsibility 

is instruction, research, 

and/or public service 39,560 35.1 39,560 35.1 † † 20,469 40.2 19,091 30.8

Executive/administrative/ 

managerial 6,960 6.2 6,960 6.2 † † 3,333 6.5 3,627 5.9

Other professional (support/ 

service) 36,611 32.4 36,611 32.4 † † 15,573 30.6 21,038 34.0

Nonprofessional staff 29,713 26.3 29,713 26.3 † † 11,524 22.6 18,189 29.4

Technical and paraprofessionals 8,424 7.5 8,424 7.5 † † 3,363 6.6 5,061 8.2

Clerical and secretarial 13,471 11.9 13,471 11.9 † † 2,647 5.2 10,824 17.5

Skilled crafts 1,062 0.9 1,062 0.9 † † 974 1.9 88 0.1

Service/maintenance 6,756 6.0 6,756 6.0 † † 4,540 8.9 2,216 3.6

† Not applicable

1

Beginning with the 2007-08 data collection, institutions with fewer than 15 full-time staff were required to complete the Fall Staff section of the Human 

Resources component. Therefore, data represent degree-granting institutions (regardless of number of staff), non-degree-granting institutions, and 

administrative offices. 

2

By definition, all graduate assistants are part-time.

3New hires include full-time permanent staff who were included on the payroll of the institution between July 1 and October 31, 2009, either for the first 

time (new to the institution) or after a break in service AND who are still on the payroll of the institution as of November 1, 2009. New hires do not 

include persons who have returned from sabbatical leave or full-time staff whose primary responsibility is instruction, research, and/or public service 

working less-than-9-month contracts/teaching periods. New hires are included in the counts of all staff.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. New hires data are only for full-time staff.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Winter 

2009-10, Human Resources component, Fall Staff section.
12

Table 6. Number and percentage of full-time staff whose primary responsibility is instruction, research, and/or public 

service at Title IV degree-granting institutions and administrative offices, by faculty status, sector of institution, 

gender, and race/ethnicity: United States, fall 2009

Sector of institution, 

gender, and 

race/ethnicity

Staff with faculty status

Total staff With tenure On tenure track

Not on tenure 

track

No tenure 

system

Staff without 

faculty status

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Total 728,125 100.0 297,460 100.0 135,250 100.0 179,135 100.0 87,306 100.0 28,974 100.0

Sector of institution

Public 4-year 365,618 50.2 168,420 56.6 74,042 54.7 109,357 61.0 2,546 2.9 11,253 38.8

Public 2-year 112,800 15.5 45,669 15.4 15,864 11.7 9,833 5.5 40,514 46.4 920 3.2

Private not-forprofit 4-year 224,618 30.8 83,039 27.9 45,162 33.4 59,706 33.3 20,226 23.2 16,485 56.9

Private not-forprofit 2-year 1,353 0.2 101 # 54 # 145 0.1 1,045 1.2 8 #

Private for-profit 

4-year 13,666 1.9 107 # 124 0.1 93 0.1 13,117 15.0 225 0.8

Private for-profit 

2-year 10,070 1.4 124 # 4 # 1 # 9,858 11.3 83 0.3

Gender

Men 415,268 57.0 193,221 65.0 71,645 53.0 90,135 50.3 42,944 49.2 17,323 59.8

Women 312,857 43.0 104,239 35.0 63,605 47.0 89,000 49.7 44,362 50.8 11,651 40.2

Race/ethnicity

African American 

or Black 39,654 5.4 13,750 4.6 8,687 6.4 9,614 5.4 6,749 7.7 854 2.9

American Indian 

or Alaska 

Native 3,452 0.5 1,269 0.4 609 0.5 694 0.4 795 0.9 85 0.3

Asian, Native 

Hawaiian, or

Pacific 

Islander 59,634 8.2 22,460 7.6 14,073 10.4 16,717 9.3 2,811 3.2 3,573 12.3

Hispanic 28,027 3.8 10,745 3.6 5,910 4.4 6,546 3.7 3,759 4.3 1,067 3.7

White 550,574 75.6 242,248 81.4 92,500 68.4 130,262 72.7 70,742 81.0 14,822 51.2

Two or More 

Races11,164 0.2 417 0.1 256 0.2 252 0.1 196 0.2 43 0.1

Race/ethnicity 

unknown 14,881 2.0 3,633 1.2 3,855 2.9 3,969 2.2 1,924 2.2 1,500 5.2

Nonresident alien 30,739 4.2 2,938 1.0 9,360 6.9 11,081 6.2 330 0.4 7,030 24.3

# Rounds to zero.

1

Two or More Races was an optional reporting category in IPEDS 2009-10, and 829 degree-granting institutions with 15 or more full-time staff reported 

staff using this option. The figures reported here should not be considered representative of all staff who could be classified into Two or More Races.

NOTE: Data are for degree-granting institutions and administrative offices with 15 or more full-time staff. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Winter 

2009-10, Human Resources component, Fall Staff section.
13

Table 7. Number of full-time instructional staff at Title IV degree-granting institutions, by academic 

rank, control and level of institution, and gender: United States, academic year 2009-10

Control and level of 

institution, and gender All ranks Professor

Associate 

professor

Assistant 

professor Instructor Lecturer

No academic 

rank1

Total2583,999 151,649 127,016 133,164 95,111 27,977 49,082

Public 391,750 99,274 82,238 86,050 66,824 20,481 36,883

4-year 280,092 84,847 71,911 74,494 21,392 19,784 7,664

Men 164,085 62,517 42,494 38,295 8,240 8,869 3,670

Women 116,007 22,330 29,417 36,199 13,152 10,915 3,994

2-year 111,658 14,427 10,327 11,556 45,432 697 29,219

Men 51,208 7,048 4,684 5,003 21,018 284 13,171

Women 60,450 7,379 5,643 6,553 24,414 413 16,048

Private not-for-profit 168,838 51,070 43,900 46,380 11,516 7,491 8,481

4-year 167,485 50,975 43,697 46,117 10,913 7,481 8,302

Men 97,733 36,800 25,388 22,682 4,824 3,482 4,557

Women 69,752 14,175 18,309 23,435 6,089 3,999 3,745

2-year 1,353 95 203 263 603 10 179

Men 520 41 59 70 250 4 96

Women 833 54 144 193 353 6 83

Private for-profit 23,411 1,305 878 734 16,771 5 3,718

4-year 13,462 1,104 811 669 7,597 5 3,276

Men 7,266 752 457 316 3,885 3 1,853

Women 6,196 352 354 353 3,712 2 1,423

2-year 9,949 201 67 65 9,174 0 442

Men 4,560 69 29 27 4,271 0 164

Women 5,389 132 38 38 4,903 0 278

1

Includes staff at institutions without standard academic ranks.

2

Total full-time instructional staff includes those on 9/10-month and 11/12-month contracts.

NOTE: Although the Salaries section was applicable to degree-granting institutions except for those institutions at which all 

instructional staff were part time, contributed their services, were in the military, or taught preclinical or clinical medicine, two

degree-granting institutions reported not only their own data, but also data for one non-degree-granting institution and one 

administrative office because the data from the degree-granting institutions could not be separated from the non-degree-granting 

institution and administrative office. The two additional entities are included in the universe and response rate numbers of the 

Salaries section. Instructional staff are those members of the instruction/research staff who are employed full time and whose 

specific assignments customarily are made for the purpose of providing instruction or teaching, including those with released time 

for research. Full-time instructional staff also include those for whom it is not possible to differentiate between instruction or 

teaching, research, and public service because each of these functions is an integral component of their regular assignment. They 

are reported as “primarily instruction” or “instruction combined with research and/or public service” in the full-time non-medicalschool part of the Employees by Assigned Position section.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS), Winter 2009-10, Human Resources component, Salaries section.
14

Table 8. Adjusted 9-month average salaries of full-time instructional staff at Title IV degree-granting 

institutions, by academic rank, control and level of institution, and gender: United States, 

academic year 2009-10

Control and level of 

institution, and gender All ranks Professor

Associate 

professor

Assistant 

professor Instructor Lecturer

No academic 

rank1

Adjusted 9-month average 

salaries2$72,889 $102,858 $73,933 $62,150 $53,499 $54,494 $54,787

Public 72,429 100,018 73,848 62,398 58,284 53,641 54,466

4-year 76,959 104,903 75,825 63,741 46,365 53,679 52,194

Men 83,379 108,104 77,873 65,786 47,600 57,006 53,596

Women 67,878 95,942 72,867 61,578 45,591 50,975 50,906

2-year 61,065 71,285 60,081 53,743 63,896 52,568 55,062

Men 62,298 73,169 60,973 54,497 64,855 52,057 56,054

Women 60,020 69,487 59,341 53,169 63,069 52,919 54,247

Private not-for-profit 78,292 109,589 74,516 61,828 46,865 56,848 61,033

4-year 78,574 109,695 74,641 61,919 47,141 56,884 61,569

Men 85,087 113,639 76,635 64,018 47,472 60,375 65,171

Women 69,448 99,454 71,875 59,888 46,878 53,844 57,185

2-year 43,460 53,028 47,757 45,789 41,868 30,214 36,192

Men 39,333 55,028 45,040 41,132 36,535 29,398 35,512

Women 46,037 51,510 48,871 47,478 45,645 30,757 36,978

Private for-profit 41,620 55,433 52,661 53,405 38,991 22,166 43,723

4-year 45,149 57,408 53,741 55,262 41,904 22,166 44,385

Men 45,790 58,642 52,658 55,338 43,029 23,496 43,078

Women 44,397 54,772 55,139 55,194 40,726 20,171 46,088

2-year 36,845 44,584 39,582 34,288 36,579 † 38,818

Men 37,660 40,849 39,454 35,206 37,608 † 37,758

Women 36,155 46,537 39,680 33,636 35,682 † 39,443

† Not applicable. 

1

Includes staff at institutions without standard academic ranks.

2

Total salary outlays for full-time instructional staff (by rank) on 11/12-month contracts were adjusted to 9/10-month outlays by 

multiplying the outlay for 11/12-month contracted staff by 0.8182. The “equated” outlays were then added to the outlays for 9/10-

month staff, and the resulting sum was then divided by the total number of staff to determine an average salary for each rank. 

Salaries for staff on less-than-9-month contracts were not collected.

NOTE: Although the Salaries section was applicable to degree-granting institutions except for those institutions at which all 

instructional staff were part time, contributed their services, were in the military, or taught preclinical or clinical medicine, two

degree-granting institutions reported not only their own data, but also data for one non-degree-granting institution and one 

administrative office because the data from the degree-granting institutions could not be separated from the non-degree-granting 

institution and administrative office. The two additional entities are included in the universe and response rate numbers of the 

Salaries section. Instructional staff are those members of the instruction/research staff who are employed full time and whose 

specific assignments customarily are made for the purpose of providing instruction or teaching, including those with released time 

for research. Full-time instructional staff also include those for whom it is not possible to differentiate between instruction or 

teaching, research, and public service because each of these functions is an integral component of their regular assignment. They 

are reported as “primarily instruction” or “instruction combined with research and/or public service” in the full-time non-medicalschool part of the Employees by Assigned Position section.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS), Winter 2009-10, Human Resources component, Salaries section.
15

Table 9. Number of full-time instructional staff and percentage change in full-time instructional staff at Title IV 

degree-granting institutions, by gender, sector of institution, and academic rank: United States, academic 

years 2003-04, 2005-06, 2007-08, and 2009-10

Sector of institution and 

academic rank

Men Women

2003-04 2005-06 2007-08 2009-10

Percent 

change 

2003-04 to 

2009-10 2003-04 2005-06 2007-08 2009-10

Percent 

change 

2003-04 to 

2009-10

Public 4-year

Professor 64,926 62,245 62,274 62,517 -3.7 17,954 18,830 20,680 22,330 24.4

Associate professor 40,274 39,950 41,378 42,494 5.5 23,777 25,238 27,398 29,417 23.7

Assistant professor 36,504 36,960 38,262 38,295 4.9 30,457 31,829 34,494 36,199 18.9

Instructor 6,558 7,463 8,104 8,240 25.6 9,642 10,970 12,269 13,152 36.4

Lecturer 6,627 7,725 8,817 8,869 33.8 7,827 9,198 10,497 10,915 39.5

Public 2-year

Professor 7,529 7,469 7,026 7,048 -6.4 6,385 6,854 6,875 7,379 15.6

Associate professor 4,766 4,847 4,646 4,684 -1.7 5,046 5,304 5,296 5,643 11.8

Assistant professor 4,999 5,286 5,261 5,003 0.1 5,828 6,262 6,664 6,553 12.4

Instructor 21,850 22,409 21,650 21,018 -3.8 22,908 24,841 24,553 24,414 6.6

Lecturer 425 304 259 284 -33.2 556 314 353 413 -25.7

Private not-for-profit 4-year

Professor 36,588 36,128 36,492 36,800 0.6 11,233 12,008 13,116 14,175 26.2

Associate professor 23,961 24,255 24,949 25,388 6.0 15,335 16,151 17,140 18,309 19.4

Assistant professor 22,771 22,372 22,528 22,682 -0.4 20,503 21,146 22,638 23,435 14.3

Instructor 4,465 4,446 4,732 4,824 8.0 5,300 5,287 5,911 6,089 14.9

Lecturer 2,097 2,620 3,121 3,482 66.0 2,311 2,876 3,599 3,999 73.0

Private not-for-profit 2-year

Professor 59 57 40 41 -30.5 68 79 53 54 -20.6

Associate professor 90 62 62 59 -34.4 118 111 133 144 22.0

Assistant professor 92 70 82 70 -23.9 155 185 231 193 24.5

Instructor 508 518 287 250 -50.8 483 462 391 353 -26.9

Lecturer 9 2 2 4 -55.6 34 32 3 6 -82.4

Private for-profit 4-year

Professor 500 531 734 752 50.4 203 204 376 352 73.4

Associate professor 281 323 377 457 62.6 136 152 245 354 160.3

Assistant professor 205 237 256 316 54.1 105 189 223 353 236.2

Instructor 2,386 3,347 3,552 3,885 62.8 1,170 2,076 2,607 3,712 217.3

Lecturer 11 0 3 3 -72.7 25 6 4 2 -92.0

Private for-profit 2-year

Professor 177 26 22 69 -61.0 86 27 24 132 53.5

Associate professor 65 10 11 29 -55.4 22 10 24 38 72.7

Assistant professor 15 9 11 27 80.0 31 34 18 38 22.6

Instructor 3,623 3,933 3,820 4,271 17.9 2,519 3,268 3,816 4,903 94.6

Lecturer 39 2 0 0 -100.0 32 32 6 0 -100.0

NOTE: Full-time instructional staff includes those on 9/10-month and 11/12-month contracts. Although the Salaries section was applicable to 

degree-granting institutions except for those institutions at which all instructional staff were part time, contributed their services, were in the military, 

or taught preclinical or clinical medicine, some degree-granting institutions reported not only their own data, but also data for administrative offices 

and non-degree-granting institutions because the data for the degree-granting institutions could not be separated from the administrative offices 

and non-degree-granting institutions. For the 2003-04 Salaries component, three degree-granting institutions reported for three non-degree-granting 

institutions; for the 2005-06 Salaries section of the Human Resources (HR) component, five degree-granting institutions reported for two nondegree-granting institutions and three administrative offices; for the 2007-08 Salaries section of the HR component, five degree-granting institutions 

reported for two non-degree-granting institutions and three administrative offices; and for the 2009-10 Salaries section of the HR component, two

degree-granting institutions reported for one non-degree-granting institution and one administrative office. Instructional staff are those members of 

the instruction/research staff who are employed full time and whose specific assignments are customarily made for the purpose of providing 

instruction or teaching, including those with released time for research. Full-time instructional staff also include those for whom it is not possible to 

differentiate between instruction or teaching, research, and public service because each of these functions is an integral component of their regular 

assignment. They are reported as “primarily instruction” or “instruction combined with research and/or public service” in the full-time non-medical 

school part of the Employees by Assigned Position section.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), 

Winter 2003-04, Salaries component, and Winter 2005-06, Winter 2007-08, and Winter 2009-10, Human Resources component, Salaries section.
16

Table 10. Adjusted 9-month average salaries in constant 2009-10 dollars and percentage change in adjusted 9-

month average salaries in constant 2009-10 dollars of full-time instructional staff at Title IV degreegranting institutions, by gender, sector of institution, and academic rank: United States, academic years 

2003-04, 2005-06, 2007-08, and 2009-10

Sector of institution and 

academic rank

Men Women

2003-04 2005-06 2007-08 2009-10

Percent 

change 

2003-04 to 

2009-10 2003-04 2005-06 2007-08 2009-10

Percent 

change 

2003-04 to

2009-10

Public 4-year

Professor $103,549 $104,059 $106,658 $108,104 4.4 $92,987 $92,954 $94,874 $95,942 3.2

Associate professor 75,802 75,898 77,230 77,873 2.7 70,609 70,868 72,445 72,867 3.2

Assistant professor 64,392 64,228 65,310 65,786 2.2 59,449 59,549 61,050 61,578 3.6

Instructor 45,682 45,377 46,780 47,600 4.2 43,503 43,600 45,264 45,591 4.8

Lecturer 52,481 50,212 55,870 57,006 8.6 47,629 48,853 50,189 50,975 7.0

Public 2-year

Professor 74,172 73,075 73,334 73,169 -1.4 69,669 68,996 69,580 69,487 -0.3

Associate professor 61,849 60,858 61,029 60,973 -1.4 59,725 58,951 59,255 59,341 -0.6

Assistant professor 54,529 53,679 53,857 54,497 -0.1 52,723 52,267 52,515 53,169 0.8

Instructor 63,399 61,859 64,213 64,855 2.3 60,794 59,673 62,182 63,069 3.7

Lecturer 46,745 48,271 49,888 52,057 11.4 47,211 49,582 49,599 52,919 12.1

Private not-for-profit 4-year

Professor 107,057 109,073 111,092 113,639 6.1 94,044 95,494 97,514 99,454 5.8

Associate professor 74,629 74,350 75,560 76,635 2.7 69,905 69,762 70,572 71,875 2.8

Assistant professor 63,194 62,284 62,881 64,018 1.3 58,733 58,067 58,750 59,888 2.0

Instructor 46,240 44,274 45,596 47,472 2.7 45,859 44,921 45,725 46,878 2.2

Lecturer 59,778 57,551 58,970 60,375 1.0 51,463 51,445 52,623 53,844 4.6

Private not-for-profit 2-year

Professor 52,312 51,561 56,094 55,028 5.2 50,473 49,273 52,244 51,510 2.1

Associate professor 43,993 47,147 47,459 45,040 2.4 46,289 46,157 52,672 48,871 5.6

Assistant professor 39,564 38,424 41,123 41,132 4.0 41,827 43,082 48,017 47,478 13.5

Instructor 39,204 40,152 37,807 36,535 -6.8 40,580 41,868 45,864 45,645 12.5

Lecturer 48,429 48,513 33,664 29,398 -39.3 53,265 57,861 35,455 30,757 -42.3

Private for-profit 4-year

Professor 61,413 57,417 56,042 58,642 -4.5 56,151 57,496 51,464 54,772 -2.5

Associate professor 53,671 50,356 49,418 52,658 -1.9 49,890 51,010 51,405 55,139 10.5

Assistant professor 49,767 48,165 49,903 55,338 11.2 49,610 48,051 49,921 55,194 11.3

Instructor 41,735 42,292 43,251 43,029 3.1 39,009 40,209 40,377 40,726 4.4

Lecturer 38,987 † 31,358 23,496 -39.7 35,959 20,842 20,764 20,171 -43.9

See notes at end of table. 
17

Table 10. Adjusted 9-month average salaries in constant 2009-10 dollars and percentage change in adjusted 9-

month average salaries in constant 2009-10 dollars of full-time instructional staff at Title IV degreegranting institutions, by gender, sector of institution, and academic rank: United States, academic years 

2003-04, 2005-06, 2007-08, and 2009-10—Continued

Sector of institution and 

academic rank

Men Women

2003-04 2005-06 2007-08 2009-10

Percent 

change 

2003-04 to 

2009-10 2003-04 2005-06 2007-08 2009-10

Percent 

change 

2003-04 to 

2009-10

Private for-profit 2-year

Professor $39,776 $38,222 $35,209 $40,849 2.7 $38,329 $27,358 $28,996 $46,537 21.4

Associate professor 32,842 36,638 37,570 39,454 20.1 33,902 43,193 37,817 39,680 17.0

Assistant professor 38,504 34,957 35,900 35,206 -8.6 39,601 34,983 34,231 33,636 -15.1

Instructor 36,782 37,027 38,067 37,608 2.2 31,836 33,449 34,952 35,682 12.1

Lecturer 9,566 32,376 † † † 29,815 38,396 29,370 † †

† Not applicable. 

NOTE: All amounts from 2003-04, 2005-06, and 2007-08 were converted to 2009-10 dollars using the average Consumer Price Index values for the 

12-month periods ending in November 2003, November 2005, November 2007, and November 2009. Total salary outlays for full-time instructional 

staff (by rank) on 11/12-month contracts were adjusted to 9/10-month outlays by multiplying the outlay for 11/12-month contracted staff by 0.8182. 

The “equated” outlays were then added to the outlays for 9/10-month staff, and the resulting sum was then divided by the total number of staff to 

determine an average salary for each rank. Salaries for staff on less-than-9-month contracts were not collected. Although the Salaries section was 

applicable to degree-granting institutions except for those institutions at which all instructional staff were part time, contributed their services, were 

in the military, or taught preclinical or clinical medicine, some degree-granting institutions reported not only their own data, but also data for 

administrative offices and non-degree-granting institutions because the data for the degree-granting institutions could not be separated from the 

administrative offices and non-degree-granting institutions. For the 2003-04 Salaries component, three degree-granting institutions reported for 

three non-degree-granting institutions; for the 2005-06 Salaries section of the Human Resources (HR) component, five degree-granting institutions 

reported for two non-degree-granting institutions and three administrative offices; for the 2007-08 Salaries section of the HR component, five

degree-granting institutions reported for two non-degree-granting institutions and three administrative offices; and for the 2009-10 Salaries section 

of the HR component, two degree-granting institutions reported for one non-degree-granting institution and one administrative office. Instructional 

staff are those members of the instruction/research staff who are employed full time and whose specific assignments are customarily made for the 

purpose of providing instruction or teaching, including those with released time for research. Full-time instructional staff also include those for whom 

it is not possible to differentiate between instruction or teaching, research, and public service because each of these functions is an integral 

component of their regular assignment. They are reported as “primarily instruction” or “instruction combined with research and/or public service” in 

the full-time non-medical-school part of the Employees by Assigned Position section.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), 

Winter 2003-04, Salaries component, and Winter 2005-06, Winter 2007-08, and Winter 2009-10, Human Resources component, Salaries section.
This page intentionally left blank. 
A-1 

Appendix A: 

Survey Methodology 

Overview 

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) defines a postsecondary 

institution as an organization that is open to the public and has a primary mission of providing 

education or training beyond the high school level. The main focus of the IPEDS winter 2009-10 

data collection was to collect data from Title IV institutions. These institutions have Program 

Participation Agreements (PPAs) with the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) within the 

U.S. Department of Education and thus are eligible to participate in Title IV student financial aid 

programs. There were 6,979 Title IV institutions1

and administrative offices located in the 

United States and the other jurisdictions2

of the United States at the beginning of the 2009-10 

academic year. Nine institutions closed before the winter 2009-10 data collection began, leaving 

6,887 institutions and 83 administrative offices. 

The winter 2009-10 data collection was entirely web-based. Institutions in the universe were 

asked to enter their survey responses using the IPEDS data collection website. The winter 2009-

10 IPEDS data were collected between December 2, 2009, and January 20, 2000. The collection 

of the Human Resources (HR) component had three sections: Employees by Assigned Position 

(EAP), Fall Staff (S), and Salaries (SA). These three sections were previously separate 

components but were merged into the single HR component beginning with the winter 2005-06 

data collection to simplify reporting and better ensure data consistency and accuracy. During the 

winter 2005-06 data collection, the glossary and instructions were also restructured based on the 

new design to improve consistency of reporting between sections. For example, prior to 2005-06, 

institutions could classify librarians and counselors as either ―Faculty‖ or ―Other professional 

(support/service)‖; however, beginning with 2005-06, institutions were instructed to classify 

librarians and counselors as ―Other professional (support/service)‖ only. (For detailed 

information on the primary functions/occupational activities, refer to appendix B, Glossary.) 

Universe, Institutions Surveyed, and Response Rates 

The IPEDS universe is established during the fall collection period. For 2009-10, some 56 

institutions and one administrative office included in prior IPEDS data collections were 

determined to be outside the scope of IPEDS because they were closed or were merged with 

another institution. Additionally, 252 institutions were reported exclusively by a parent 

institution; also, 251 institutions were added to the universe. Four of the U.S. service academies 

 

1

 Includes 6,896 institutions and 83 administrative offices (central or system offices). The administrative offices are 

required to complete the Institutional Characteristics component in the fall, the EAP section of the Human 

Resources component in the winter, and the Finance component in the winter or spring (if they have their own 

separate budget). Administrative offices are required to complete the Fall Staff section of the Human Resources 

component in odd-numbered years such as 2009, but not in even-numbered years such as 2008. The U.S. service 

academies are included in the number of institutions. 

2 The other jurisdictions surveyed in IPEDS are American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the 

Marshall Islands, the Northern Marianas, Palau, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
A-2 

are included in the IPEDS universe as if they were Title IV institutions.3These entities were 

identified from several sources, including a universe review by state coordinators, a review of the 

data file maintained by OPE, and information provided by the institutions themselves. 

According to Section 490 of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 (P.L. 102-325), IPEDS 

is mandatory for any institutions that participate in or are applicants for participation in any 

federal financial assistance program authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 

as amended (20 USC 1094(a)(17)). Therefore, most of the studies that use IPEDS data 

concentrate on the Title IV institutions, and this group is the main focus of IPEDS. To ensure the 

inclusion of all Title IV participants, the full set of 6,979 Title IV entities in the established 

IPEDS universe was validated by matching it with OPE’s Postsecondary Education Participation 

System (PEPS) file. 

The IPEDS database includes institutions that do not participate in Title IV financial aid 

programs. These institutions are invited to participate in the IPEDS program, and if they 

voluntarily respond to the surveys, the institutions are included in the College Navigator 

(http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator). For the 2009-10 HR component, 125 non-Title IV 

institutions provided data. The College Navigator is designed to help college students, 

prospective students, and their parents learn about admission requirements, degrees offered, 

costs, graduation rates, and other characteristics of institutions that they may find helpful in 

selecting between postsecondary institutions. 

Not all Title IV institutions were required to complete all sections of the HR component. Nine 

institutions were not required to complete the HR component because they closed during the fall 

2009 collection. The EAP and Fall Staff sections of the HR component were required of all 

Title IV institutions and administrative offices. The Salaries section was required of Title IV 

degree-granting institutions except for those institutions at which all instructional staff were part 

time, contributed their services, were in the military, or taught preclinical or clinical medicine.

Of the 6,970 Title IV entities eligible for the winter 2009-10 IPEDS collection, all 6,887 

institutions and 83 administrative offices were eligible for the EAP and Fall Staff sections, and 

4,454 degree-granting institutions were eligible for the Salaries section. Although the Salaries 

section was applicable to degree-granting institutions only, two degree-granting institutions 

reported not only their own data, but also data for one non-degree-granting institution and one 

administrative office because the data could not be separated by degree-granting status. The two 

additional entities are included in the universe and response rate numbers of the Salaries section. 

Table A-1 provides the number of Title IV institutions and administrative offices and the survey 

response rates for the HR component overall and the specific HR sections for winter 2009-10, by 

degree-granting status and level and control of institution, for the United States and other 

jurisdictions. Because Title IV institutions are the primary focus of IPEDS and they are required 

to respond, response rates for Title IV institutions and administrative offices in the winter 2009-

10 IPEDS collection were high. The overall response rate in winter 2009-10 was 99.9 percent for 

the HR component. The response rates for the EAP and Fall Staff sections were also 99.9 

percent, and the response rate for the Salaries section was 100.0 percent. 

 

3

 The four U.S. service academies that are not Title IV–eligible are the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military 

Academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and the U.S. Air Force Academy. One academy, the U.S. Merchant 

Marine Academy, is Title IV–eligible. Data for all five institutions are included in the tables and counts of 

institutions. 
A-3 

Table A-1a provides the number of Title IV institutions and administrative offices and the survey 

response rates for the HR component overall and the specific HR sections for winter 2009-10, by 

degree-granting status and level and control of institution for the United States only (excluding 

any other jurisdictions). 

Table A-1. Response rates of Title IV institutions and administrative offices responding to the IPEDS 

winter 2009-10 data collection, by survey component or section, degree-granting status, and 

level and control of institution: United States and other jurisdictions

Degree-granting status and level 

and control of institution

Human Resources component Employees by Assigned Position section

Final 

universe

Number 

responded

Response

rate (%)

Final 

universe

Number 

responded

Response 

rate (%)

All institutions 6,970 6,964 99.9 6,970 6,964 99.9

Public 2,086 2,084 99.9 2,086 2,084 99.9

Private not-for-profit 1,868 1,868 100.0 1,868 1,868 100.0

Private for-profit 3,016 3,012 99.9 3,016 3,012 99.9

4-year 2,897 2,895 99.9 2,897 2,895 99.9

Public 730 728 99.7 730 728 99.7

Private not-for-profit 1,595 1,595 100.0 1,595 1,595 100.0

Private for-profit 572 572 100.0 572 572 100.0

2-year 2,289 2,289 100.0 2,289 2,289 100.0

Public 1,134 1,134 100.0 1,134 1,134 100.0

Private not-for-profit 182 182 100.0 182 182 100.0

Private for-profit 973 973 100.0 973 973 100.0

Less-than-2-year 1,784 1,780 99.8 1,784 1,780 99.8

Public 222 222 100.0 222 222 100.0

Private not-for-profit 91 91 100.0 91 91 100.0

Private for-profit 1,471 1,467 99.7 1,471 1,467 99.7

Degree-granting 4,656 4,654 100.0 4,656 4,654 100.0

4-year 2,881 2,879 99.9 2,881 2,879 99.9

Public 729 727 99.7 729 727 99.7

Private not-for-profit 1,581 1,581 100.0 1,581 1,581 100.0

Private for-profit 571 571 100.0 571 571 100.0

2-year 1,775 1,775 100.0 1,775 1,775 100.0

Public 1,039 1,039 100.0 1,039 1,039 100.0

Private not-for-profit 91 91 100.0 91 91 100.0

Private for-profit 645 645 100.0 645 645 100.0

Non-degree-granting 2,314 2,310 99.8 2,314 2,310 99.8

4-year116 16 100.0 16 16 100.0

Public 1 1 100.0 1 1 100.0

Private not-for-profit 14 14 100.0 14 14 100.0

Private for-profit 1 1 100.0 1 1 100.0

2-year 514 514 100.0 514 514 100.0

Public 95 95 100.0 95 95 100.0

Private not-for-profit 91 91 100.0 91 91 100.0

Private for-profit 328 328 100.0 328 328 100.0

Less-than-2-year 1,784 1,780 99.8 1,784 1,780 99.8

Public 222 222 100.0 222 222 100.0

Private not-for-profit 91 91 100.0 91 91 100.0

Private for-profit 1,471 1,467 99.7 1,471 1,467 99.7

See notes at end of table.
A-4 

Table A-1. Response rates of Title IV institutions and administrative offices responding to the IPEDS 

winter 2009-10 data collection, by survey component or section, degree-granting status, and 

level and control of institution: United States and other jurisdictions—Continued

Degree-granting status and level 

and control of institution

Fall Staff section Salaries section

Final 

universe

Number 

responded

Response 

rate (%)

Final 

universe

Number 

responded

Response 

rate (%)

All institutions 6,970 6,964 99.9 4,4552,3 4,453 100.0

Public 2,086 2,084 99.9 1,6902,3 1,688 99.9

Private not-for-profit 1,868 1,868 100.0 1,611 1,611 100.0

Private for-profit 3,016 3,012 99.9 1,154 1,154 100.0

4-year 2,897 2,895 99.9 2,738 2,736 99.9

Public 730 728 99.7 681 679 99.7

Private not-for-profit 1,595 1,595 100.0 1,527 1,527 100.0

Private for-profit 572 572 100.0 530 530 100.0

2-year 2,289 2,289 100.0 1,71621,716 100.0

Public 1,134 1,134 100.0 1,00821,008 100.0

Private not-for-profit 182 182 100.0 84 84 100.0

Private for-profit 973 973 100.0 624 624 100.0

Less-than-2-year 1,784 1,780 99.8 1

3

1 100.0

Public 222 222 100.0 1

3

1 100.0

Private not-for-profit 91 91 100.0 † † †

Private for-profit 1,471 1,467 99.7 † † †

Degree-granting 4,656 4,654 100.0 4,45424,452 100.0

4-year 2,881 2,879 99.9 2,738 2,736 99.9

Public 729 727 99.7 681 679 99.7

Private not-for-profit 1,581 1,581 100.0 1,527 1,527 100.0

Private for-profit 571 571 100.0 530 530 100.0

2-year 1,775 1,775 100.0 1,71621,716 100.0

Public 1,039 1,039 100.0 1,00821,008 100.0

Private not-for-profit 91 91 100.0 84 84 100.0

Private for-profit 645 645 100.0 624 624 100.0

Non-degree-granting 2,314 2,310 99.8 1

3

1 100.0

4-year116 16 100.0 † † †

Public 1 1 100.0 † † †

Private not-for-profit 14 14 100.0 † † †

Private for-profit 1 1 100.0 † † †

2-year 514 514 100.0 † † †

Public 95 95 100.0 † † †

Private not-for-profit 91 91 100.0 † † †

Private for-profit 328 328 100.0 † † †

Less-than-2-year 1,784 1,780 99.8 1

3

1 100.0

Public 222 222 100.0 1

3

1 100.0

Private not-for-profit 91 91 100.0 † † †

Private for-profit 1,471 1,467 99.7 † † †

† Not applicable. 

1

These institutions grant certificates at the postbaccalaureate and post-master’s levels; they do not award degrees.

2One administrative office is included here because one degree-granting institution could not separate its full-time instructional 

staff data by degree-granting status.

3One public less-than-2-year institution is included here because one degree-granting institution could not separate its full-time 

instructional staff data by degree-granting status.

NOTE: The Employees by Assigned Position and Fall Staff sections were applicable to all institutions and administrative offices. 

Although the Salaries section was applicable to degree-granting institutions except for those institutions at which all instructional 

staff were part time, contributed their services, were in the military, or taught preclinical or clinical medicine, two degree-granting 

institutions reported not only their own data, but also data for one non-degree-granting institution and one administrative office

because the data from the degree-granting institutions could not be separated from the non-degree-granting institution and 

administrative office. The two additional entities are included in the universe and response rate numbers of the Salaries section. 

Data were imputed for all Human Resources nonrespondents. The other jurisdictions include American Samoa, the Federated 

States of Micronesia, Guam, the Marshall Islands, the Northern Marianas, Palau, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS), Winter 2009-10, Human Resources component, Employees by Assigned Position, Fall Staff, and Salaries 

sections.
A-5 

Table A-1a. Response rates of Title IV institutions and administrative offices responding to the IPEDS 

winter 2009-10 data collection, by survey component or section, degree-granting status, and 

level and control of institution: United States

Degree-granting status and level 

and control of institution

Human Resources component Employees by Assigned Position section

Final 

universe

Number 

responded

Response

rate (%)

Final 

universe

Number 

responded

Response 

rate (%)

All institutions 6,813 6,807 99.9 6,813 6,807 99.9

Public 2,059 2,057 99.9 2,059 2,057 99.9

Private not-for-profit 1,810 1,810 100.0 1,810 1,810 100.0

Private for-profit 2,944 2,940 99.9 2,944 2,940 99.9

4-year 2,831 2,829 99.9 2,831 2,829 99.9

Public 712 710 99.7 712 710 99.7

Private not-for-profit 1,554 1,554 100.0 1,554 1,554 100.0

Private for-profit 565 565 100.0 565 565 100.0

2-year 2,263 2,263 100.0 2,263 2,263 100.0

Public 1,125 1,125 100.0 1,125 1,125 100.0

Private not-for-profit 176 176 100.0 176 176 100.0

Private for-profit 962 962 100.0 962 962 100.0

Less-than-2-year 1,719 1,715 99.8 1,719 1,715 99.8

Public 222 222 100.0 222 222 100.0

Private not-for-profit 80 80 100.0 80 80 100.0

Private for-profit 1,417 1,413 99.7 1,417 1,413 99.7

Degree-granting 4,567 4,565 100.0 4,567 4,565 100.0

4-year 2,815 2,813 99.9 2,815 2,813 99.9

Public 711 709 99.7 711 709 99.7

Private not-for-profit 1,540 1,540 100.0 1,540 1,540 100.0

Private for-profit 564 564 100.0 564 564 100.0

2-year 1,752 1,752 100.0 1,752 1,752 100.0

Public 1,031 1,031 100.0 1,031 1,031 100.0

Private not-for-profit 85 85 100.0 85 85 100.0

Private for-profit 636 636 100.0 636 636 100.0

Non-degree-granting 2,246 2,242 99.8 2,246 2,242 99.8

4-year116 16 100.0 16 16 100.0

Public 1 1 100.0 1 1 100.0

Private not-for-profit 14 14 100.0 14 14 100.0

Private for-profit 1 1 100.0 1 1 100.0

2-year 511 511 100.0 511 511 100.0

Public 94 94 100.0 94 94 100.0

Private not-for-profit 91 91 100.0 91 91 100.0

Private for-profit 326 326 100.0 326 326 100.0

Less-than-2-year 1,719 1,715 99.8 1,719 1,715 99.8

Public 222 222 100.0 222 222 100.0

Private not-for-profit 80 80 100.0 80 80 100.0

Private for-profit 1,417 1,413 99.7 1,417 1,413 99.7

See notes at end of table.
A-6 

Table A-1a. Response rates of Title IV institutions and administrative offices responding to the IPEDS 

winter 2009-10 data collection, by survey component or section, degree-granting status, and 

level and control of institution: United States—Continued

Degree-granting status and level 

and control of institution

Fall Staff section Salaries section

Final 

universe

Number 

responded

Response 

rate (%)

Final

universe

Number 

responded

Response rate 

(%)

All institutions 6,813 6,807 99.9 4,3702,3 4,368 100.0

Public 2,059 2,057 99.9 1,6652,3 1,663 99.9

Private not-for-profit 1,810 1,810 100.0 1,567 1,567 100.0

Private for-profit 2,944 2,940 99.9 1,138 1,138 100.0

4-year 2,831 2,829 99.9 2,676 2,674 99.9

Public 712 710 99.7 664 662 99.7

Private not-for-profit 1,554 1,554 100.0 1,489 1,489 100.0

Private for-profit 565 565 100.0 523 523 100.0

2-year 2,263 2,263 100.0 1,69321,693 100.0

Public 1,125 1,125 100.0 1,00021,000 100.0

Private not-for-profit 176 176 100.0 78 78 100.0

Private for-profit 962 962 100.0 615 615 100.0

Less-than-2-year 1,719 1,715 99.8 1

3

1 100.0

Public 222 222 100.0 1

3

1 100.0

Private not-for-profit 80 80 100.0 † † †

Private for-profit 1,417 1,413 99.7 † † †

Degree-granting 4,567 4,565 100.0 4,36924,367 100.0

4-year 2,815 2,813 99.9 2,676 2,674 99.9

Public 711 709 99.7 664 662 99.7

Private not-for-profit 1,540 1,540 100.0 1,489 1,489 100.0

Private for-profit 564 564 100.0 523 523 100.0

2-year 1,752 1,752 100.0 1,69321,693 100.0

Public 1,031 1,031 100.0 1,00021,000 100.0

Private not-for-profit 85 85 100.0 78 78 100.0

Private for-profit 636 636 100.0 615 615 100.0

Non-degree-granting 2,246 2,242 99.8 1

3

1 100.0

4-year116 16 100.0 † † †

Public 1 1 100.0 † † †

Private not-for-profit 14 14 100.0 † † †

Private for-profit 1 1 100.0 † † †

2-year 511 511 100.0 † † †

Public 94 94 100.0 † † †

Private not-for-profit 91 91 100.0 † † †

Private for-profit 326 326 100.0 † † †

Less-than-2-year 1,719 1,715 99.8 1

3

1 100.0

Public 222 222 100.0 1

3

1 100.0

Private not-for-profit 80 80 100.0 † † †

Private for-profit 1,417 1,413 99.7 † † †

† Not applicable. 

1

These institutions grant certificates at the postbaccalaureate and post-master’s levels; they do not award degrees.

2One administrative office is included here because one degree-granting institution could not separate its full-time instructional staff 

data by degree-granting status.

3One public less-than-2-year institution is included here because one degree-granting institution could not separate its full-time 

instructional staff data by degree-granting status.

NOTE: The Employees by Assigned Position and Fall Staff sections were applicable to all institutions and administrative offices. 

Although the Salaries section was applicable to degree-granting institutions except for those institutions at which all instructional 

staff were part time, contributed their services, were in the military, or taught preclinical or clinical medicine, two degree-granting 

institutions reported not only their own data, but also data for one non-degree-granting institution and one administrative office

because the data from the degree-granting institutions could not be separated from the non-degree-granting institution and 

administrative office. The two additional entities are included in the universe and response rate numbers of the Salaries section.

Data were imputed for all Human Resources nonrespondents.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS), Winter 2009-10, Human Resources component, Employees by Assigned Position, Fall Staff, and Salaries 

sections.
A-7 

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) statistical standards require that the 

potential for nonresponse bias for all institutions (including those in the other jurisdictions) be 

analyzed for sectors for which the response rate was less than 90 percent. As shown in table A-1, 

no sectors require this analysis. 

Survey Procedures 

The winter 2009-10 IPEDS data collection was entirely web-based. Each institution designated a 

keyholder, who was the person responsible for ensuring that data submitted by the institution 

were correct. The keyholder could generate UserIDs and passwords for up to six additional 

survey respondents who could also enter and review data. For most institutions, keyholders were 

also required to edit and ―lock‖ the data; locking is equivalent to submitting completed data to 

NCES. 

Additionally, many states or systems had one or more coordinators who took responsibility for a 

specified group of institutions to ensure that all data were entered correctly. Some coordinators 

may be responsible for a system of institutions (e.g., SUNY—the State University of New York); 

others may coordinate all or some institutions in a state. Also, coordinators may elect to provide 

different levels of review. For example, some may only view data provided by their institutions, 

while others may upload data from state databases, review, and/or lock data for their institutions. 

For the 2009-10 IPEDS data collections, keyholders were asked to register prior to the fall 2009

data collection. Registration information, including UserIDs and passwords, were e-mailed to 

existing keyholders in early August. Also in early August, letters were sent to chief executive 

officers (CEOs) at institutions without preregistered keyholders requesting that they appoint a 

keyholder for the 2009-10 collection year. The package included a letter for the keyholder and a 

registration certificate with the institution’s UserID and password for the entire 2009-10

collection period. Subsequent registration mailings were sent to CEOs at institutions at which a 

keyholder had still not been registered in late August and late September. At the beginning of the 

winter and spring collections (in early December and early March, respectively), e-mail 

messages were sent to registered keyholders and coordinators requesting that they update or 

confirm their registration contact information when the collections opened. Schools were 

allowed to designate a new keyholder at any time during the collection year, if needed. As with 

previous IPEDS studies, follow-up for nonresponse was conducted with CEOs, coordinators, and 

keyholders via mail, e-mail, and telephone throughout all three collection periods. 

The web-based survey instruments offered many features designed to improve the quality and 

timeliness of the data. As indicated above, survey respondents were required to register before 

entering 2009-10 data to ensure a point of contact between NCES/IPEDS and the institution. 

Online data entry forms were tailored to each institution based on characteristics such as degreegranting status and presence of a medical school. 

When data from previous years were available for an institution, they were preloaded on the 

customized forms for easy reference and comparison purposes. Once the 2009-10 data were 

entered, either manually or through file upload, the keyholders were required to run edit checks 

(programmed into the web system based on criteria determined by NCES) and resolve all 

identified errors before they were able to lock (submit) their data. Once data were locked, they 
A-8 

were considered submitted, regardless of whether or not the coordinator had reviewed the 

submission. 

Once the data were complete and all locks were applied, IPEDS help desk staff conducted a final 

review of all edit error explanations and of all caveats. Additionally, a randomly selected sample 

of institutions had their complete data visually reviewed. If any additional problems were 

detected, the help desk staff contacted the institutions to resolve any remaining questions. Once 

the data were reviewed and, if necessary, problems resolved, most data were migrated to the 

IPEDS Data Center, where they were made available to other responding institutions for 

comparison purposes. 

Inflation Adjustments 

Table 10 in this report is reported in constant 2009-10 dollars. To convert the previous years’ 

salary data to 2009-10 dollar amounts, the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Urban 

Consumers values for the 12-month period ending in November of the academic year the data 

represent were used. The ratio of the average CPI for the 12-month period ending in November 

2009 to the average CPI ending in November of the appropriate prior year was multiplied by the 

data from the prior year to calculate the constant 2009-10 dollar amounts. These amounts were 

then used in the calculations shown in the table. Percentage changes in these tables reflect 

changes over and above changes due to inflation. 

Human Resources Component Survey Sections 

The Human Resources (HR) component comprises three sections: Employees by Assigned 

Position (EAP), Fall Staff, and Salaries. A description of each HR section follows. 

Employees by Assigned Position (EAP) 

This section of the HR component was required by all Title IV institutions and administrative 

offices for winter 2009-10. The EAP section categorizes all staff on the institution’s payroll as of 

November 1 of the collection year, by employment status (full or part time), faculty status, and 

primary function/occupational activity. The medical school pages of EAP were applicable to 

institutions with Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) and/or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) 

programs only. Employees affiliated with (housed in or under the authority of) the medical 

school were reported with the medical school. For example, if an institution’s medical school 

employees were housed with the institution’s employees in other health-related disciplines (e.g., 

dentistry, veterinary medicine, nursing), the institution was instructed to report both sets of 

employees in the medical school part of the EAP section and list the other health-related 

disciplines in the designated comment box in the EAP section. Employees who were in health 

disciplines that were not housed in the medical school were reported in the non-medical school 

part of EAP.

The main functions/occupational activities of the EAP section are primarily instruction, 

instruction combined with research and/or public service, primarily research, primarily public 

service, executive/administrative/managerial, other professional (support/service), graduate 

assistants, technical and paraprofessionals, clerical and secretarial, skilled crafts, and 

service/maintenance. If, by institutional definition, a staff member has faculty status, the staff 

member is categorized according to tenure status: with tenure, on tenure track, not on tenure 
A-9 

track, or no tenure system. If a staff member does not have faculty status, he or she is counted in 

the “without faculty status” category.

All full-time instructional staff classified in the EAP full-time non-medical school part as either 

(1) primarily instruction or (2) instruction combined with research and/or public service are 

included in the Salaries section, unless they are exempted because of one of the exclusions noted 

in the description of the Salaries section. 

Fall Staff 

This section of the HR component is required in odd-numbered years (e.g., staff in fall 2009) and 

optional in even-numbered years (e.g., 2008). There are two versions of the Fall Staff section for 

degree-granting institutions; applicability of each version is determined by the number of fulltime staff at the institution. Beginning with the 2009-10 HR component, non-degree-granting 

institutions no longer receive a separate Fall Staff section. Instead, these data are collected via a 

combined EAP/Fall Staff instrument. The two versions of Fall Staff are described below. 

1. Degree-granting institutions and related administrative offices with 15 or more full-time 

staff complete the long version of Fall Staff. This version collects the number of staff by 

employment status (full time and part time), gender, race/ethnicity, faculty status, 

contract length, academic rank, salary class intervals, and primary function/occupational 

activity. This version also collects data on newly hired full-time permanent staff. The 

long version includes the following six parts:

Part G: Faculty and tenure status of full-time staff whose primary responsibility is 

instruction, research, and/or public service, by racial/ethnic category, gender, and 

academic rank; 

Part H: Full-time staff whose primary responsibility is instruction, research, and/or 

public service, by racial/ethnic category, gender, contract length, and salary class 

intervals; 

Part I: All other full-time staff by racial/ethnic category, gender, primary function/ 

occupational activity, and salary class intervals; 

Part J: Part-time staff by racial/ethnic category, gender, and primary function/ 

occupational activity1

; 

Part K: Summary of full-time and part-time staff by racial/ethnic category and gender; 

and 

Part L: New hires by racial/ethnic category, gender, and primary function/occupational 

activity. 

2. Degree-granting institutions and related administrative offices with fewer than 15 fulltime staff complete the short version of Fall Staff, which collects the number of staff by 

employment status (full time and part time), gender, race/ethnicity, and primary 

function/occupational activity. (Data entry screens to report graduate assistants are 

included in this version.) This version includes the following three parts:

 

1

 Includes data entry screens to report graduate assistants. 
A-10

Part G: Full-time staff by racial/ethnic category, gender, and primary function/ 

occupational activity;

Part H: Part-time staff by racial/ethnic category, gender, and primary function/ 

occupational activity1; and 

Part I: Summary of full-time and part-time staff by racial/ethnic category and gender. 

In both versions of the Fall Staff section, data are collected for staff on the payroll of the 

institution as of November 1 of the collection year.2

 While most of the primary 

functions/occupational activities in the Fall Staff section are the same as the primary 

functions/occupational activities in the EAP section, the aggregate category of ―instruction/

research/public service‖ staff from the Fall Staff section does not have a single, direct 

counterpart in the EAP section. The set of individuals reported in this portion of the Fall Staff 

section is equivalent to the group of people reported in the EAP section as primarily instruction, 

instruction combined with research and/or public service, primarily research, and primarily 

public service. 

Salaries 

This section of the HR component collects data on full-time instructional staff—that is, those 

persons classified as either primarily instruction or instruction combined with research and/or 

public service (except those reported in the medical schools part of the EAP section, as described 

above). Although the Salaries section is required for Title IV degree-granting institutions except 

for those institutions at which all instructional staff are part time, contribute their services, are in 

the military, or teach preclinical or clinical medicine, two degree-granting institutions reported 

not only their own data, but also data for one non-degree-granting institution and one 

administrative office because the data could not be separated by degree-granting status. The two

additional entities are included in the universe and response rate numbers of the Salaries section. 

Data are collected for full-time instructional staff on the institution’s payroll as of November 1 of 

the collection year. 

Part D of the Salaries section collects the number of full-time instructional staff on less-than-9-

month, 9/10-month, and 11/12-month contracts by gender and academic rank (professor, 

associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, lecturer, and no academic rank). In addition, 

4-year degree-granting institutions report the number of full-time instructional staff on 9/10-

month and 11/12-month contracts by faculty status, gender, and academic rank in Part D. Part E 

collects the salary outlays associated with the full-time instructional staff on 9/10-month and 

11/12-month contracts reported in part D, by gender and academic rank (professor, associate 

professor, assistant professor, instructor, lecturer, and no academic rank). For full-time 

instructional staff on 9/10-month and 11/12-month contracts, part F collects data on the fringe 

benefit expenditures and the number covered by these benefits. Types of fringe benefits included 

are retirement plans, medical/dental plans, group life insurance, other insurance benefits, 

guaranteed disability income protection, tuition plan (dependents only), housing plan, employer 

portion of Social Security taxes, unemployment compensation taxes, worker’s compensation 

taxes, and other benefits in kind with cash options. 

 

2

 There are slightly different reporting requirements for the new hires part of the long version of Fall Staff. For more 

information on new hires, refer to the glossary (appendix B). 
A-11

Changes in Reporting Categories 

Beginning in fall 2008, several changes began to take effect regarding reporting of data by 

race/ethnicity.3These changes are being phased in over several IPEDS collections. 

Institutions can report via the historical categories, with seven race/ethnicity categories; the new 

categories, with nine race/ethnicity categories; or a combination of the old and new categories. 

The seven historic categories are American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian, Native Hawaiian, or 

Pacific Islander; Black or African American; Hispanic or Latino; White; race/ethnicity unknown; 

and nonresident alien. The nine new categories are American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; 

Black or African American; Hispanic or Latino; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; 

White; Two or More Races; race/ethnicity unknown; and nonresident alien. During the phase-in 

period, data reported separately in the new Asian and new Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific 

Islander categories will be combined to correspond to the historic category of Asian, Native 

Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander when analyzed, discussed in findings, and displayed in tables. The 

Fall Staff section of the HR component is affected by these race/ethnicity reporting options. 

The use of the Two or More Races category may decrease aggregate counts in the other race/ 

ethnicity categories because staff classified into the Two or More Races category may have 

previously been classified into one of the other categories. For fall 2009, 1,028 institutions 

utilized the Two or More Races category, reporting approximately 868,000 staff. Of these, about 

8,600 (1 percent) were classified into the Two or More Races category. In total, the 868,000 staff 

reported at these institutions represent 23 percent of the approximately 3.8 million staff reported 

at all Title IV institutions. During the 2010-11 IPEDS collection, the use of the new 

race/ethnicity categories will become mandatory for the Fall Staff section. 

Edit Procedures 

Edit checks are built into the web-based data collection instrument to detect major reporting 

errors. The system automatically generates percentages for many data elements, and totals for 

each survey page. Based on these calculations, edit checks compared current responses to 

previously reported data. The percentage variance necessary to trigger an edit check varied 

depending on the data element being compared, but typically was considered out of the expected 

range if the variance was greater than 25 percent. Edit checks can be run by the keyholder at any 

time during the collection, and all edit failures were required to be resolved before the keyholder 

could lock the data. As edit checks are executed, survey respondents are allowed to correct any 

errors detected by the system. If data were entered correctly but failed the edit checks, the survey 

respondents were asked either to confirm that the data were correct as entered or to key in a text 

message explaining why the data appeared to be out of the expected data range. Additionally, 

some edit failures were ―fatal‖; in these cases, the data had to be corrected by the keyholder 

rather than confirmed or explained. Survey respondents are also provided with a context box for 

each survey component and are encouraged to use this area to explain any special circumstances 

that might not be evident in their reported data. 

For the EAP and Salaries sections, current year data (winter 2009-10) were compared to the 

previous year’s data (winter 2008-09) and large discrepancies had to be explained. 

 

3

 For more information, see http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/submit_data/changes0809.asp. 
A-12

Within the Fall Staff section, the total number of full-time staff whose primary function was 

instruction, research, and/or public service by gender and race/ethnicity reported in Part G had to 

match the total number of full-time staff whose primary function was instruction, research, 

and/or public service by gender and race/ethnicity reported in Part H (headcount). Likewise, the 

total number of full-time staff whose primary responsibility was instruction, research, and/or 

public service by gender and race/ethnicity in Part H had to be greater than or equal to the 

number of newly hired full-time permanent staff whose primary responsibility was instruction, 

research, and/or public service by gender and race/ethnicity in Part L (new hires), and the total 

number of all other full-time staff by primary function/occupational activity, gender, and 

race/ethnicity in Part I had to be greater than or equal to the number of newly hired full-time staff 

in the corresponding primary function/occupational activity by gender and race/ethnicity in 

Part L (new hires). 

Within the Salaries section, average salaries were calculated, and checks were in place to detect 

unusually high or unusually low averages. The number of full-time instructional staff receiving 

fringe benefits could not exceed the total number of full-time instructional staff by contract 

length, except for the tuition plan (dependents only) benefit.4

The number of full-time 

instructional staff in the Salaries section had to be equal to the number of full-time non-medical 

school staff reported as either primarily instruction or instruction combined with research and/or 

public service in the EAP section and less than or equal to the number of full-time instruction/ 

research/public service staff in the Fall Staff section. 

When comparing across sections, the total number of staff reported in the Fall Staff section was

required to match the total number of staff reported in the EAP section. More specifically, the 

total number of staff by employment status (full time plus part time) and primary function/ 

occupational activity for the EAP and Fall Staff sections were required to match. Totals from the 

EAP section were carried forward to the Fall Staff section for comparison and to ensure the 

consistency of data being reported. Staff classified as primarily instruction, primarily research, 

primarily public service, and/or instruction combined with research and/or public service in the 

EAP section had to be reported in the Fall Staff section by race/ethnicity and gender in the single 

category “staff whose primary responsibility is instruction, research, and/or public service”; 

otherwise, a fatal error occurred. The number of full-time instructional staff in the Salaries 

section had to be equal to the number of full-time non-medical school staff reported as either 

primarily instruction or instruction combined with research and/or public service in the EAP 

section and had to be less than or equal to the number of full-time instruction/research/public 

service staff in the Fall Staff section.

Imputation Procedures 

All required sections of the HR component were subject to imputation for nonresponse; 

imputations were performed for both total (institutional) nonresponse and partial (item) 

 

4

 The number of persons reported for the tuition plan (dependents only) benefit represents the number of dependents 

(e.g., children, spouse) of full-time instructional staff receiving tuition benefits, rather than the number of full-time 

instructional staff receiving this benefit. For example, if a full-time instructional staff member is receiving tuition 

benefits and two children of the same staff member are also receiving tuition benefits, the two children should be 

reported in the “tuition plan (dependents only)” benefit category; however, the staff member should not be reported 

in this case.
A-13

nonresponse. The imputation base was restricted to institutions satisfying the following 

conditions: 

 The institution must participate in Title IV student financial aid programs. 

 The institution must be currently active5in IPEDS.

 The institution must not be a child institution (a child institution’s data are reported by 

another institution, referred to as the ―parent‖).

 For the Salaries section, the institution must be a degree-granting institution. 

 For the Salaries section, the institution’s instructional staff must not all fall into one of the 

following categories: 

 instructional staff who are employed on a part-time basis,

 instructional staff who contribute their services, 

 instructional staff who are military personnel, or 

 instructional staff who teach preclinical or clinical medicine. 

The HR component was imputed using 78 imputation groups as necessary to ensure imputed data 

were donated from institutions with characteristics similar to those of the nonresponding 

institution. The imputation groups were formed based primarily on institutional sector and 

undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional offerings. 

The following imputation methods6 were used to impute missing data in the HR component: 

Carry Forward, Nearest Neighbor, or Group Median. 

Carry Forward

Reported prior year data were carried forward to the current year. The prior year data were used 

as the base value for the imputation. To adjust for year-to-year change, the base value was then 

multiplied by an adjustment ratio for each section of the HR component. The adjustment ratio 

varied depending on the data being imputed. For employee counts, the adjustment factor used 

was the ratio of total staff reported in the current year to those reported in the prior year in EAP, 

within the imputation group. For salary outlays and benefit expenditures, an inflation adjustment 

was used. This ratio is total salary outlays (or benefit expenditures) in the current year to total 

salary outlays (or benefit expenditures) in the prior year, within the imputation group. 

Nearest Neighbor 

Previous year Fall Enrollment data were used to determine the distance between an imputee and 

a potential donor. The distance measure was full-time equivalent enrollment, defined as the sum 

of all full-time students and one-third of the part-time students. Each nearest neighbor imputee 

was imputed with the current year HR data from the donor in the same imputation group whose 

distance measure was closest to that of the imputee. The donor’s data values were adjusted by 

multiplying by the ratio of the imputee’s distance measure to the donor’s distance measure.

 

5

 Prior to imputation, institutions that did not respond were verified as currently active (open for business) through 

telephone calls or e-mail. 

6

 Imputation methods are listed in order of preferred usage. If data are not available for application of one method, 

the next method is used. 
A-14

Group Median 

If insufficient prior year data were available to perform any of the previously described methods, 

the group median method was used. For each imputation group, the sum of all full-time staff and 

one-third of the part-time staff was calculated for each institution. The institution with the 

median value of this measure within each imputation group was the donor institution. 

For the EAP section, table A-2 depicts information on the total number of staff along with the 

number and percentages of staff that were imputed for all Title IV institutions and administrative 

offices in the United States, by control of institution, staff employment status, primary function/ 

occupational activity, degree-granting status, and medical school staff status. 

For the Fall Staff section, table A-3 depicts information on the total number of staff and new 

hires, along with the number and percentages of staff and new hires that were imputed for all 

Title IV institutions and administrative offices in the United States, by control of institution, staff 

employment status, primary function/occupational activity, gender, and degree-granting status. 

For the Salaries section, table A-4 depicts the total salary outlays along with the amounts and 

percentages that were imputed for Title IV degree-granting institutions in the United States, by 

control of institution, staff contract length, gender, and academic rank. Table A-5 provides the 

total fringe benefit expenditures along with the amounts and percentages that were imputed for 

Title IV degree-granting institutions in the United States, by control of institution, staff contract 

length, and fringe benefit type. 
A-15

Table A-2. Number of staff, number of staff imputed, and percentages imputed for all Title IV institutions and 

administrative offices, by control of institution, employment status, primary function/occupational activity, 

degree-granting status, and medical school staff status: United States, fall 2009

Employment status, primary 

function/occupational activity, 

degree-granting status, and 

medical school staff status

Total Public Private not-for-profit Private for-profit

Staff

Imputed

Staff

Imputed

Staff

Imputed

Staff

Imputed

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Total 3,794,500 524 # 2,463,675 465 # 1,078,504 0 0.0 252,321 59 #

Full-time staff 2,430,250 503 # 1,539,309 449 # 750,749 0 0.0 140,192 54 #

Primarily instruction 492,839 263 0.1 315,121 240 0.1 142,612 0 0.0 35,106 23 0.1

Instruction/research/

public service 191,671 0 0.0 129,319 0 0.0 60,401 0 0.0 1,951 0 0.0

Primarily research 48,877 8 # 29,457 8 # 19,412 0 0.0 8 0 0.0

Primarily public service 16,290 0 0.0 10,678 0 0.0 5,588 0 0.0 24 0 0.0

Executive/administrative/ 

managerial 231,025 41 # 108,586 32 # 96,339 0 0.0 26,100 9 #

Other professional 

(support/service) 675,966 66 # 435,369 52 # 193,066 0 0.0 47,531 14 #

Technical and 

paraprofessionals 160,999 30 # 115,862 28 # 40,472 0 0.0 4,665 2 #

Clerical and secretarial 354,825 37 # 216,981 31 # 115,770 0 0.0 22,074 6 #

Skilled crafts 60,268 15 # 45,776 15 # 14,222 0 0.0 270 0 0.0

Service/maintenance 197,490 43 # 132,160 43 # 62,867 0 0.0 2,463 0 0.0

Part-time staff 1,364,250 21 # 924,366 16 # 327,755 0 0.0 112,129 5 #

Primarily instruction 647,706 19 # 386,806 16 # 159,796 0 0.0 101,104 3 #

Instruction/research/

public service 61,148 0 0.0 42,439 0 0.0 18,101 0 0.0 608 0 0.0

Primarily research 10,394 0 0.0 6,860 0 0.0 3,530 0 0.0 4 0 0.0

Primarily public service 7,850 0 0.0 6,265 0 0.0 1,563 0 0.0 22 0 0.0

Executive/administrative/ 

managerial 8,932 0 0.0 4,853 0 0.0 3,338 0 0.0 741 0 0.0

Other professional 

(support/service) 102,926 1 # 69,296 0 0.0 31,065 0 0.0 2,565 1 #

Graduate assistants1342,393 0 0.0 275,872 0 0.0 66,252 0 0.0 269 0 0.0

Technical and 

paraprofessionals 43,441 1 # 33,948 0 0.0 7,671 0 0.0 1,822 1 0.1

Clerical and secretarial 96,322 0 0.0 69,953 0 0.0 22,758 0 0.0 3,611 0 0.0

Skilled crafts 2,739 0 0.0 1,957 0 0.0 653 0 0.0 129 0 0.0

Service/maintenance 40,399 0 0.0 26,117 0 0.0 13,028 0 0.0 1,254 0 0.0

Degree-granting 3,723,419 465 # 2,442,076 465 # 1,073,417 0 0.0 207,926 0 0.0

Non-degree-granting 71,081 59 0.1 21,599 0 0.0 5,087 0 0.0 44,395 59 0.1

Staff (except those in medical 

schools) 3,422,200 524 # 2,250,282 465 # 919,597 0 0.0 252,321 59 #

Medical school staff 372,300 0 0.0 213,393 0 0.0 158,907 0 0.0 † † †

† Not applicable.

# Rounds to zero.

1

By definition, graduate assistants are part-time.

NOTE: Table is restricted to U.S. institutions only. No staff were imputed for institutions in other jurisdictions.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Winter 

2009-10, Human Resources component, Employees by Assigned Position section.
A-16

Table A-3. Number of staff and new hires, number of staff and new hires imputed, and percentages imputed for 

Title IV institutions and administrative offices, by control of institution, employment status, primary 

function/occupational activity, gender, and degree-granting status: United States, fall 2009

Employment status, 

primary function/ 

occupational activity,

gender, and degreegranting status

Total Public Private not-for-profit Private for-profit

Staff

Imputed

Staff

Imputed

Staff

Imputed

Staff

Imputed

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Total (degree-granting and non-degree-granting institutions and administrative offices)1

Total 3,794,500 524 # 2,463,675 465 # 1,078,504 0 0.0 252,321 59 #

Full-time staff 2,430,250 503 # 1,539,309 449 # 750,749 0 0.0 140,192 54 #

Staff whose primary 

responsibility is 

instruction, research, 

and/or public service 749,677 271 # 484,575 248 0.1 228,013 0 0.0 37,089 23 0.1

Executive/administrative/ 

managerial 231,025 41 # 108,586 32 # 96,339 0 0.0 26,100 9 #

Other professional

(support/ service) 675,966 66 # 435,369 52 # 193,066 0 0.0 47,531 14 #

Technical and 

paraprofessionals 160,999 30 # 115,862 28 # 40,472 0 0.0 4,665 2 #

Clerical and secretarial 354,825 37 # 216,981 31 # 115,770 0 0.0 22,074 6 #

Skilled crafts 60,268 15 # 45,776 15 # 14,222 0 0.0 270 0 0.0

Service/maintenance 197,490 43 # 132,160 43 # 62,867 0 0.0 2,463 0 0.0

Part-time staff 1,364,250 21 # 924,366 16 # 327,755 0 0.0 112,129 5 #

Staff whose primary 

responsibility is 

instruction, research, 

and/or public service 727,098 19 # 442,370 16 # 182,990 0 0.0 101,738 3 #

Executive/administrative/ 

managerial 8,932 0 0.0 4,853 0 0.0 3,338 0 0.0 741 0 0.0

Other professional

(support/ service) 102,926 1 # 69,296 0 0.0 31,065 0 0.0 2,565 1 #

Graduate assistants2342,393 0 0.0 275,872 0 0.0 66,252 0 0.0 269 0 0.0

Technical and 

paraprofessionals 43,441 1 # 33,948 0 0.0 7,671 0 0.0 1,822 1 0.1

Clerical and secretarial 96,322 0 0.0 69,953 0 0.0 22,758 0 0.0 3,611 0 0.0

Skilled crafts 2,739 0 0.0 1,957 0 0.0 653 0 0.0 129 0 0.0

Service/maintenance 40,399 0 0.0 26,117 0 0.0 13,028 0 0.0 1,254 0 0.0

Men 1,733,906 351 # 1,129,339 323 # 499,245 0 0.0 105,322 28 #

Women 2,060,594 173 # 1,334,336 142 # 579,259 0 0.0 146,999 31 #

Degree-granting 3,723,419 465 # 2,442,076 465 # 1,073,417 0 0.0 207,926 0 0.0

Non-degree-granting 71,081 59 0.1 21,599 0 0.0 5,087 0 0.0 44,395 59 0.1

Degree-granting institutions and related administrative offices with 15 or more full-time staff only

New hires (full-time only)3112,844 0 0.0 61,160 0 0.0 40,102 0 0.0 11,582 0 0.0

Professional staff 83,131 0 0.0 45,292 0 0.0 29,507 0 0.0 8,332 0 0.0

Staff whose primary 

responsibility is 

instruction, 

research, and/or 

public service 39,560 0 0.0 23,219 0 0.0 14,687 0 0.0 1,654 0 0.0

Executive/administrative/managerial 6,960 0 0.0 2,775 0 0.0 3,108 0 0.0 1,077 0 0.0

Other professional

(support/ service) 36,611 0 0.0 19,298 0 0.0 11,712 0 0.0 5,601 0 0.0

See notes at end of table. 
A-17

Table A-3. Number of staff and new hires, number of staff and new hires imputed, and percentages imputed for 

Title IV institutions and administrative offices, by control of institution, employment status, primary 

function/occupational activity, gender, and degree-granting status: United States, fall 2009—Continued

Employment status, 

primary function/ 

occupational activity,

gender, and degreegranting status

Total Public Private not-for-profit Private for-profit

Staff

Imputed

Staff

Imputed

Staff

Imputed

Staff

Imputed

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Degree-granting institutions and related administrative offices with 15 or more full-time staff only—Continued

New hires (full-time 

only)3—Continued

Nonprofessional staff 29,713 0 0.0 15,868 0 0.0 10,595 0 0.0 3,250 0 0.0

Technical and 

paraprofessionals 8,424 0 0.0 4,688 0 0.0 2,922 0 0.0 814 0 0.0

Clerical and 

secretarial 13,471 0 0.0 6,204 0 0.0 4,926 0 0.0 2,341 0 0.0

Skilled crafts 1,062 0 0.0 803 0 0.0 250 0 0.0 9 0 0.0

Service/maintenance 6,756 0 0.0 4,173 0 0.0 2,497 0 0.0 86 0 0.0

# Rounds to zero.

1

Beginning with the 2007-08 data collection, institutions with fewer than 15 full-time staff were required to complete the Fall Staff section of the 

Human Resources component. Therefore, data represent degree-granting institutions (regardless of number of staff), non-degree-granting 

institutions, and administrative offices.

2

By definition, all graduate assistants are part time.

3New hires are full-time permanent staff who were included on the payroll of the institution between July 1 and October 31, 2009, either for the 

first time (new to the institution) or after a break in service and who were still on the payroll of the institution as of November 1, 2009. New hires 

do not include persons who have returned from sabbatical leave or full-time staff whose primary responsibility is instruction, research, and/or 

public service working less-than-9-month contracts/teaching periods. New hires are included in the counts of all staff.

NOTE: Table is restricted to U.S. institutions only. No staff were imputed for institutions in other jurisdictions.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), 

Winter 2009-10, Human Resources component, Fall Staff section.
A-18

Table A-4. Salary outlays, amounts imputed, and percentages of outlays imputed for Title IV degree-granting institutions, 

by control of institution, contract length, gender, and academic rank: United States, academic year 2009-10

Gender and academic 

rank

Total1Public Private not-for-profit Private for-profit

Salary 

outlays

Imputed Salary 

outlays

Imputed Salary 

outlays

Imputed Salary 

outlays

Imputed

Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent

9/10-month contract

Total $36,155,010 $5,676 # $24,558,178 $5,676 # $11,532,885 $0 0.0 $63,946 $0 0.0

Men 21,951,193 3,454 # 14,576,028 3,454 # 7,341,492 0 0.0 33,673 0 0.0

Professor 9,942,200 1,621 # 6,140,134 1,621 # 3,797,160 0 0.0 4,906 0 0.0

Associate 

professor 4,929,090 804 # 3,191,463 804 # 1,732,122 0 0.0 5,505 0 0.0

Assistant professor 3,801,402 349 # 2,519,888 349 # 1,277,428 0 0.0 4,085 0 0.0

Instructor 1,719,332 68 # 1,546,929 68 # 163,235 0 0.0 9,168 0 0.0

Lecturer 598,911 612 0.1 413,688 612 0.1 185,223 0 0.0 0 0 0.0

No academic rank 960,258 0 0.0 763,925 0 0.0 186,323 0 0.0 10,010 0 0.0

Women 14,203,817 2,222 # 9,982,150 2,222 # 4,191,394 0 0.0 30,273 0 0.0

Professor 3,570,980 1,195 # 2,295,205 1,195 0.1 1,273,121 0 0.0 2,654 0 0.0

Associate 

professor 3,354,213 363 # 2,190,163 363 # 1,159,277 0 0.0 4,774 0 0.0

Assistant professor 3,473,316 260 # 2,265,781 260 # 1,201,716 0 0.0 5,819 0 0.0

Instructor 2,086,677 0 0.0 1,855,939 0 0.0 220,704 0 0.0 10,034 0 0.0

Lecturer 675,357 404 0.1 482,430 404 0.1 192,894 0 0.0 33 0 0.0

No academic rank 1,043,275 0 0.0 892,631 0 0.0 143,683 0 0.0 6,961 0 0.0

11/12-month contract

Total 7,836,720 17,483 0.2 4,663,565 17,382 0.4 2,060,443 0 0.0 1,112,712 101 #

Men 4,596,565 13,247 0.3 2,805,385 13,214 0.5 1,215,806 0 0.0 575,374 33 #

Professor 1,910,220 6,018 0.3 1,385,856 6,018 0.4 473,019 0 0.0 51,346 0 0.0

Associate 

professor 781,117 3,301 0.4 492,861 3,301 0.7 264,173 0 0.0 24,083 0 0.0

Assistant professor 566,958 2,645 0.5 332,472 2,645 0.8 216,945 0 0.0 17,541 0 0.0

Instructor 735,715 1,163 0.2 254,741 1,130 0.4 91,549 0 0.0 389,425 33 #

Lecturer 161,174 119 0.1 130,384 119 0.1 30,704 0 0.0 86 0 0.0

No academic rank 441,381 0 0.0 209,071 0 0.0 139,416 0 0.0 92,893 0 0.0

Women 3,240,155 4,236 0.1 1,858,180 4,168 0.2 844,637 0 0.0 537,338 68 #

Professor 638,129 647 0.1 439,897 647 0.1 170,403 0 0.0 27,828 0 0.0

Associate 

professor 572,251 957 0.2 352,288 957 0.3 200,098 0 0.0 19,865 0 0.0

Assistant professor 657,001 1,480 0.2 380,939 1,480 0.4 257,799 0 0.0 18,263 0 0.0

Instructor 831,564 961 0.1 346,425 893 0.3 98,816 0 0.0 386,322 68 #

Lecturer 144,752 191 0.1 117,107 191 0.2 27,635 0 0.0 9 0 0.0

No academic rank 396,458 0 0.0 221,522 0 0.0 89,886 0 0.0 85,050 0 0.0

# Rounds to zero.

1

Although the Salaries section was applicable to degree-granting institutions except for those institutions at which all instructional staff were part time, 

contributed their services, were in the military, or taught preclinical or clinical medicine, two degree-granting institutions reported not only their own data, 

but also data for one non-degree-granting institution and one administrative office because the data could not be separated by degree-granting status. 

The two additional entities are included in the universe and response rate numbers of the Salaries section.

NOTE: Table is restricted to U.S. institutions only. No salary outlays were imputed for institutions in other jurisdictions. Salary amounts are in thousands 

of dollars.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Winter 

2009-10, Human Resources component, Salaries section.
A-19

Table A-5. Fringe benefit expenditures, amounts imputed, and percentages of outlays imputed for Title IV degree-granting 

institutions, by control of institution, contract length, and benefit type: United States, academic year 2009-10

Fringe benefit type

Total1Public Private not-for-profit Private for-profit

Expenditures

Imputed ExpendituresImputed ExpendituresImputed ExpendituresImputed

Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent Amount Percent

9/10-month contract

Retirement plans—vested 

within 5 years $2,439,487 $0 0.0 $1,484,506 $0 0.0 $953,413 $0 0.0 $1,568 $0 0.0

Retirement plans—vested 

after 5 years 904,564 0 0.0 878,625 0 0.0 25,695 0 0.0 245 0 0.0

Medical/dental plans 3,754,544 0 0.0 2,759,885 0 0.0 989,916 0 0.0 4,744 0 0.0

Group life insurance 80,620 0 0.0 47,312 0 0.0 32,456 0 0.0 851 0 0.0

Other insurance benefits 46,985 0 0.0 34,776 0 0.0 12,064 0 0.0 145 0 0.0

Guaranteed disability 

income protection 81,283 0 0.0 47,972 0 0.0 33,221 0 0.0 90 0 0.0

Tuition plan 282,790 0 0.0 50,239 0 0.0 232,510 0 0.0 41 0 0.0

Housing plan 16,411 0 0.0 38 0 0.0 16,372 0 0.0 0 0 0.0

Social Security taxes 2,230,158 0 0.0 1,440,820 0 0.0 786,107 0 0.0 3,230 0 0.0

Unemployment 

compensation taxes 62,258 0 0.0 37,292 0 0.0 24,705 0 0.0 262 0 0.0

Worker’s compensation 

taxes 198,110 0 0.0 136,321 0 0.0 61,475 0 0.0 313 0 0.0

Other benefits in kind with 

cash options 66,387 0 0.0 34,779 0 0.0 31,587 0 0.0 21 0 0.0

11/12-month contract

Retirement plans—vested 

within 5 years 431,569 0 0.0 270,607 0 0.0 148,670 0 0.0 12,292 0 0.0

Retirement plans—vested 

after 5 years 193,960 1 # 178,714 0 0.0 9,433 0 0.0 5,813 1 #

Medical/dental plans 630,974 0 0.0 382,799 0 0.0 173,611 0 0.0 74,564 0 0.0

Group life insurance 19,236 # # 10,800 0 0.0 6,205 0 0.0 2,231 # #

Other insurance benefits 32,389 4,466 13.8 19,399 4,466 23.0 5,637 0 0.0 7,353 0 0.0

Guaranteed disability 

income protection 21,158 0 0.0 11,755 0 0.0 7,079 0 0.0 2,324 0 0.0

Tuition plan 45,388 0 0.0 7,613 0 0.0 27,594 0 0.0 10,181 0 0.0

Housing plan 7,754 0 0.0 22 0 0.0 7,732 0 0.0 0 0 0.0

Social Security taxes 455,434 6 # 255,460 0 0.0 132,098 0 0.0 67,876 6 #

Unemployment 

compensation taxes 19,928 2 # 6,015 0 0.0 5,068 0 0.0 8,844 2 #

Worker’s compensation 

taxes 39,946 1 # 21,545 0 0.0 12,082 0 0.0 6,319 1 #

Other benefits in kind with 

cash options 16,117 0 0.0 10,647 0 0.0 5,456 0 0.0 13 0 0.0

# Rounds to zero.

1

Although the Salaries section was applicable to degree-granting institutions except for those institutions at which all instructional staff were part time, 

contributed their services, were in the military, or taught preclinical or clinical medicine, two degree-granting institutions reported not only their own data, but 

also data for one non-degree-granting institution and one administrative office because the data could not be separated by degree-granting status. The two 

additional entities are included in the universe and response rate numbers of the Salaries section.

NOTE: Table is restricted to U.S. institutions only. Fringe benefits are defined as cash contributions, in the form of supplementary or deferred

compensation, other than salary. No expenditures were imputed for institutions in other jurisdictions. Fringe benefit expenditures are in thousands of dollars.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Winter 2009-

10, Human Resources component, Salaries section.
This page intentionally left blank.
B-1

Appendix B:

Glossary of IPEDS Terms

child institution: An institution that has its data reported by another institution, known as the parent 

institution.

clerical and secretarial: A primary function or occupational activity category used to classify 

persons whose assignments typically are associated with clerical activities or are specifically of a 

secretarial nature. Includes personnel who are responsible for internal and external communications, 

recording and retrieval of data (other than computer programmer) and/or information and other 

paperwork required in an office. 

control (of institution): A classification of whether an institution is operated by publicly elected or 

appointed officials (public control) or by privately elected or appointed officials and derives its major 

source of funds from private sources (private not-for-profit or private for-profit control).

coordinator: The person responsible for Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 

survey-related coordination activities for a specified group of schools within a state. This person may 

have certain viewing, verifying, and locking privileges on the data collection system.

degree-granting institution: An institution offering an associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, doctor’s, or 

first-professional degree.

donor institution: A responding institution whose values are assigned to the imputee.

executive, administrative, and managerial: A primary function or occupational activity category 

used to classify persons whose assignments require management of the institution, or a customarily 

recognized department or subdivision thereof. Assignments require the performance of work directly 

related to management policies or general business operations of the institution, department, or 

subdivision. Assignments in this category customarily and regularly require the incumbent to 

exercise discretion and independent judgment.

faculty: Persons whose specific assignments customarily are made for the purpose of providing 

instruction or teaching, research, or public service as a principal activity (or activities). They may 

hold academic rank titles of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, lecturer, or 

the equivalent of any of those academic ranks. Faculty may also include the chancellor/president, 

provost, vice provosts, deans, directors, or the equivalent, as well as associate deans, assistant deans, 

and executive officers of academic departments (chairpersons, heads, or the equivalent) if their 

principal activity is instruction combined with research and/or public service. Graduate, teaching, and 

research assistants are not included in this category.

fringe benefits: Cash contributions in the form of supplementary or deferred compensation other 

than salary. Excludes the employee’s contribution. Employee fringe benefits include retirement 

plans, employer portion of Social Security taxes, medical/dental plans, guaranteed disability income 

protection plans, tuition plans, housing plans, unemployment compensation plans, group life 

insurance plans, worker’s compensation plans, and other benefits in-kind with cash options.

full-time instructional staff: Those members of the instruction/research staff who are employed full 

time and whose specific assignments customarily are made for the purpose of providing instruction 

or teaching, including those with released time for research. Also includes full-time staff for whom it 
B-2

is not possible to differentiate between instruction or teaching, research, and public service because 

each of these functions is an integral component of their regular assignment. 

graduate assistants: Graduate-level students who are employed on a part-time basis for the primary 

purpose of assisting in classroom or laboratory instruction or in the conduct of research. Graduate 

students having titles such as graduate assistant, teaching assistant, teaching associate, teaching 

fellow, or research assistant typically hold these positions.

imputee: A nonresponding institution that has its values imputed.

instruction combined with research and/or public service: A primary function or occupational 

activity category used to classify persons for whom it is not possible to differentiate between 

instruction or teaching, research, and public service because each of these functions is an integral 

component of their regular assignment. These employees may hold academic rank titles of professor, 

associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, lecturer, or the equivalent. These employees may 

also hold titles such as deans, directors, or the equivalent, as well as associate deans, assistant deans, 

and executive officers of academic departments (chairpersons, heads, or equivalent) if their principal 

activity is instruction combined with research and/or public service.

keyholder: The person designated by an official institutional representative to have in his or her

possession the necessary UserID and password to gain access to the IPEDS data collection system to 

complete the survey. The keyholder is responsible for entering data and locking the data by each 

survey completion date.

less-than-2-year institution: A postsecondary institution that offers programs of less than 2 years’ 

duration below the baccalaureate level. Includes occupational and vocational schools with programs 

that do not exceed 1,800 contact hours.

less-than-9-month salary contract/teaching period: The contracted teaching period of instructional 

staff employed for less than two semesters, three quarters, two trimesters, or two 4-month sessions.

level (of institution): A classification of whether an institution’s programs are of at least 4 years’ 

duration or beyond a baccalaureate level (4-year institution), at least 2 but less than 4 years (2-year 

institution), or less than 2 years (less-than-2-year institution).

medical school staff: Staff employed by or staff working in the medical school (Doctor of Medicine 

[M.D.] and/or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine [D.O.]) component of a postsecondary institution or 

in a freestanding medical school. Does not include staff employed by or employees working strictly 

in a hospital associated with a medical school or those who work in health or allied health schools or 

departments such as dentistry, veterinary medicine, nursing, or dental hygiene unless the health or 

allied health schools or departments are affiliated with (housed in or under the authority of) the 

medical school.

new hires: Full-time permanent staff who were included on the payroll of the institution between 

July 1st and October 31st of the survey year, either for the first time (new to the institution) or after a 

break in service and who were still on the payroll of the institution as of November 1st of the same 

survey year. Does not include persons who have returned from sabbatical leave or full-time staff 

working less-than-9-month contracts/teaching periods.

non-degree-granting institution: An institution offering only postbaccalaureate, post-master’s, or 

first-professional certificates, or certificates or diplomas of 4 years or less.
B-3

nonprofessional staff: Staff of an institution whose primary function or occupational activity is 

classified as one of the following: technical and paraprofessional; clerical and secretarial; skilled 

crafts; or service/maintenance.

not on tenure track: Personnel positions that are considered non-tenure-earning positions.

Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE): OPE formulates federal postsecondary education policy 

and administers programs that address critical national needs in support of its mission to increase 

access to quality postsecondary education..

on tenure track: Personnel positions that lead to consideration for tenure. 

other professional (support/service): A primary function or occupational activity category used to 

classify persons employed for the primary purpose of performing academic support, student service, 

and institutional support, whose assignments would require either a baccalaureate degree or higher or 

experience of such kind and amount as to provide a comparable background.

parent institution: An institution that reports data for another institution, known as the child 

institution.

postsecondary education institution: An institution that has as its sole purpose, or one of its 

primary missions, the provision of postsecondary education. Postsecondary education is the provision 

of a formal instructional program whose curriculum is designed primarily for students beyond the 

compulsory age for high school. This includes programs whose purpose is academic, vocational, or 

continuing professional education, and excludes avocational and adult basic education programs. For 

IPEDS, these institutions must be open to the public.

Postsecondary Education Participation System (PEPS): Database used by OPE to track all 

institutions eligible for Title IV federal student financial aid programs.

primarily instruction: A primary function or occupational activity category used to classify persons 

whose specific assignments customarily are made for the purpose of providing instruction or teaching 

and who may hold academic rank titles of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, 

instructor, lecturer, or the equivalent. Includes deans, directors, or the equivalent, as well as associate 

deans, assistant deans, and executive officers of academic departments (chairpersons, heads, or 

equivalent) if their principal activity is instruction.

primarily public service: A primary function or occupational activity category used to classify 

persons whose specific assignments customarily are made for the purpose of carrying out public 

service activities such as agricultural extension services, clinical services, or continuing education 

and who may hold academic rank titles of professor, associate professor, or assistant professor. 

Includes deans, directors, or the equivalent, as well as associate deans, assistant deans, and executive 

officers of academic departments (chairpersons, heads, or equivalent) if their principal activity is 

public service. 

primarily research: A primary function or occupational activity category used to classify persons 

whose specific assignments customarily are made for the purpose of conducting research and who 

may hold academic rank titles of professor, associate professor, of assistant professor or titles such as 

research associate or postdoctoral fellow. Includes deans, directors, or the equivalent, as well as 

associate deans, assistant deans, and executive officers of academic departments (chairpersons, 

heads, or equivalent) if their principal activity is research.
B-4

primary function/occupational activity: The principal activity of a staff member as determined by 

the institution. If an individual participates in two or more activities, the primary activity is normally 

determined by the amount of time spent in each activity. Primary functions/occupational activities 

are designated as follows: executive, administrative, and managerial; primarily instruction; 

instruction/research/public service; primarily research; primarily public service; graduate assistants; 

other professional (support/service); technical and paraprofessional; clerical and secretarial; skilled 

crafts; and service/maintenance (see separate definitions).

private for-profit institution: A private institution in which the individual(s) or agency in control 

receives compensation other than wages, rent, or other expenses for the assumption of risk.

private institution: An educational institution controlled by a private individual(s) or by a 

nongovernmental agency, usually supported primarily by other than public funds, and operated by 

other than publicly elected or appointed officials. These institutions may be either for-profit or notfor-profit.

private not-for-profit institution: A private institution in which the individual(s) or agency in 

control receives no compensation, other than wages, rent, or other expenses for the assumption of 

risk. These include both independent not-for-profit schools and those affiliated with a religious 

organization.

professional staff: Staff of an institution whose primary function or occupational activity is 

classified as one of the following: primarily instruction; instruction/research/public service; primarily 

research; primarily public service; executive, administrative, managerial; other professional 

(support/service); or graduate assistant.

Program Participation Agreement (PPA): A written agreement between a postsecondary 

institution and the Secretary of Education. This agreement allows institutions to participate in any of 

the Title IV student assistance programs other than the State Student Incentive Grant (SSIG) and the 

National Early Intervention Scholarship and Partnership (NEISP) programs. The PPA conditions the 

initial and continued participation of an eligible institution in any Title IV program upon compliance 

with the General Provisions regulations, the individual program regulations, and any additional 

conditions specified in the program participation agreement that the Department of Education 

requires the institution to meet. Institutions with such an agreement are referred to as Title IV 

institutions.

public institution: An educational institution whose programs and activities are operated by publicly 

elected or appointed school officials and which is supported largely by public funds. 

race/ethnicity (new definition): Categories developed in 1997 by the Office of Management and 

Budget that are used to describe groups to which individuals belong, identify with, or belong in the 

eyes of the community. The categories do not denote scientific definitions of anthropological origins. 

The designations are used to categorize U.S. citizens, resident aliens, and other eligible noncitizens.

Individuals are asked to first designate ethnicity as

 Hispanic or Latino; or

 Not Hispanic or Latino.

Second, individuals are asked to indicate all races that apply among the following:

 American Indian or Alaska Native;

 Asian;
B-5

 Black or African American;

 Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; and

 White.

race/ethnicity (old definition): Categories used to describe groups to which individuals belong, 

identify with, or belong in the eyes of the community. The categories do not denote scientific 

definitions of anthropological origins. A person may be counted in only one group. The groups used 

to categorize U.S. citizens, resident aliens, and other eligible noncitizens are as follows: American 

Indian/Alaska Native; Asian/Pacific Islander; Black, non-Hispanic; Hispanic; White, non-Hispanic.

sector: One of nine institutional categories resulting from dividing the universe according to control 

and level. Control categories are public, private not-for-profit, and private for-profit. Level categories 

are 4 years and higher (4-year institutions), at least 2 but less than 4 years (2-year institutions), and 

less than 2 years (less-than-2-year institutions). For example: sector 1 = public 4-year institutions; 

sector 2 = private not-for-profit 4-year institutions.

service/maintenance: A primary function or occupational activity category used to classify persons 

whose assignments require limited degrees of previously acquired skills and knowledge and in which 

workers perform duties that result in or contribute to the comfort, convenience, and hygiene of 

personnel and the student body or that contribute to the upkeep of the institutional property. 

skilled crafts: A primary function or occupational activity category used to classify persons whose 

assignments typically require special manual skills and a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of 

the processes involved in the work, acquired through on-the-job-training and experience or through 

apprenticeship or other formal training programs. 

technical and paraprofessional: A primary function or occupational activity category used to 

classify persons whose assignments require specialized knowledge or skills which may be acquired 

through experience, apprenticeship, on-the-job training, or academic work in occupationally specific 

programs that result in a 2-year degree or other certificate or diploma. Includes persons who perform 

some of the duties of a professional in a supportive role, which usually requires less formal training 

and experience than normally required for professional status.

tenure status: Status of a personnel position with respect to permanence of the position. 

Title IV institution: An institution that has a written agreement with the Secretary of Education that 

allows the institution to participate in any of the Title IV federal student financial assistance 

programs (other than the State Student Incentive Grant [SSIG] and the National Early Intervention 

Scholarship and Partnership [NEISP] programs).

UserID: A series of numbers possibly with an alpha prefix that is created for a specific user to be 

able to access a system. Each user is required to have a UserID and a password for security purposes 

in order to access the IPEDS data collection system.

2-year institution: A postsecondary institution that offers programs of at least 2 but less than 4 

years’ duration. Includes occupational and vocational schools with programs of at least 1,800 hours 

and academic institutions with programs of less than 4 years. Does not include bachelor’s degreegranting institutions where the baccalaureate program can be completed in 3 years.

4-year institution: A postsecondary institution that offers programs of at least 4 years’ duration or 

one that offers programs at or above the baccalaureate level. Includes schools that offer 
B-6

postbaccalaureate certificates only or those that offer graduate programs only. Also includes freestanding medical, law, or other first-professional schools. 

9/10-month salary contract/teaching period: The contracted teaching period of instructional staff 

employed for two semesters, three quarters, two trimesters, two 4-month sessions, or the equivalent. 

11/12-month salary contract/teaching period: The contracted teaching period of instructional staff 

employed for the entire year, usually for a period of 11 or 12 months.