Higher Ed Bubble: As American Income Falls, Higher Ed Salaries Increase
In 2011 the annual median wage for Americans fell 1.2%, the second year in a row in which there was a decline. But higher education wasn’t touched by that down turn. From 2010 to 2011, according to a study by the Chronicle of Higher Education, the average compensation for university presidents and faculty increased significantly:
To be fair, that higher ed salaries wouldn’t be impacted by the overall national economic stagnation isn’t inherently problematic. But when you couple in growth in the cost of higher education, not to mention on-going demand for higher education despite skyrocketing costs and a stagnating economy, and you begin to see that these compensation numbers are reflective of the higher education bubble.
Government subsidies have made demand for higher education inelastic, because they’ve distorted the association between getting a degree and the cost of getting a degree.
By the way, here in North Dakota increases in pay for university presidents have been anything but modest. From 2001 – 2011, every single president in the North Dakota university system has seen at least a 30% increase in pay, with the Presidents at UND and NDSU seeing their pay roughly double.
How many of you readers have seen your pay double in the last decade?
Tags: higher education
