Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Employment in Higher Education Declines in Q1 2015; Ads for Part-Time Positions Outpace Full-Time Job Postings

  • 05/26/15

STATE COLLEGE, PA – The number of jobs in higher education declined 0.5 percent in Q1 2015, according to a recent report from HigherEdJobs, a leading job and career site for higher education professionals.

According to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data by HigherEdJobs, the 0.5 percent drop in higher education employment represents a loss of 8,600 college and university jobs. Community colleges were particularly hard hit, losing 3.8 percent of their workforce, or about 2,700 jobs. Four-year institutions lost only 0.3 percent of their faculty and staff, or about 5,900 jobs.

Interestingly, while the number of jobs in higher education is down, the report found that ads for open positions in academia were up during Q1 2015, and at a faster pace from a year ago.

The divergence of trends between job postings and higher education jobs could indicate that institutions are experiencing increased employee turnover, perhaps due to retirement, moving to other institutions, or for positions outside of academia. “When institutions have a lot of job openings, it doesn't necessarily mean those are ‘ew jobs,’”says John Ikenberry, president of HigherEdJobs. “A high percentage of these openings are for existing positions that have come open. When institutions don't fill their vacancies fast enough to keep up with the number of employees who exit, employment will decline.”

There was good news for individuals looking for full-time faculty positions, as ads for those positions increased 2.7 percent from a year ago. However, that growth was dwarfed by the increase in ads for part-time, adjunct faculty, which surged 37.4 percent.

The report analyzes the most current data from BLS and HigherEdJobs' posting trends from colleges and universities that have continuously subscribed to the company's unlimited posting plan for four years, a group of roughly 890 schools that have no financial deterrent not to post any openings. View the full report.

HigherEdJobs® is the leading source for jobs and career information in academia. During 2014, over 5,300 colleges and universities posted more than 159,000 faculty, administrative, and executive job postings to the company's website, which receives more than 1,000,000 unique visitors a month. HigherEdJobs is published by Internet Employment Linkage, Inc. and is headquartered in State College, PA.

Featured

  • Kimball International Releases Curated Design Support Program

    Commercial furnishings company Kimball International recently announced the launch of a new end-to-end design support program, DesignSuite. According to a news release, its goal is to guide architecture & design professionals and dealer partners through the process from vision to specification.

  • Ohio State University Opens 26-Story Hospital

    The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center recently opened in Columbus, Ohio, standing 26 stories and covering 1.9 million square feet, according to a university news release. The project marks ten years of effort and is the university’s largest single-facility construction project ever.

  • College of the Desert Hits Construction Milestone on New Campus

    College of the Desert recently announced that the construction of its new Palm Springs Campus in Palm Springs, Calif., recently reached a major construction milestone, according to a news release. The college is partnering with general contractor C.W. Driver Companies, which recently “topped out” the facility by placing the final beam in its structure.

  • University of Arizona Approves New Residence Hall

    The Arizona Board of Regents recently approved plans for a new residence hall at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz., according to a news release. The new facility is scheduled to open in fall 2028 and have the capacity for more than 1,200 students, enforcing a new university expectation that all first-year students live on campus.