Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Public Higher Ed Employment Outperforms Private in Q4 2016 While Job Postings Decline

  • 06/29/17

STATE COLLEGE, PA – The total number of jobs in higher education decreased incrementally in 2016 as public institutions outperformed private institutions, according to HigherEdJobs, the leading job and career site for higher education professionals.

According to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data by HigherEdJobs, higher education employment decreased 0.1 percent, or roughly 5,900 jobs, during the fourth quarter. This is the first decrease in higher education employment for the fourth quarter since at least 2010. The decline was driven by employment losses at private colleges and universities, which lost about 10,300 jobs, representing a 0.7 percent decline in private sector higher education jobs. Meanwhile, public colleges and universities added 4,500 jobs, a 0.2 percent increase, in public sector higher education jobs during the fourth quarter.

Job postings for open positions at colleges and universities were also down during the fourth quarter, decreasing 4.1 percent compared to the year before. The decline in higher education job postings was distributed throughout most types of job postings, although some types of administrative and executive postings experienced incremental growth. Annually, the total number of advertisements for job postings in academia increased 7.6 percent in 2016, the slowest annual growth since at least 2013.

The report analyzes the most current data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and HigherEdJobs' posting trends from roughly 850 colleges and universities that have continuously subscribed to the company's unlimited posting plan for four years. The full report can be viewed at www.higheredjobs.com/career/quarterly-report.cfm. 

HigherEdJobs® is the leading source for jobs and career information in academia. During 2016, 5,400 colleges and universities posted more than 215,000 faculty, administrative and executive job postings to the company’s website, which receives 1.5 million unique visitors a month. HigherEdJobs is published by Internet Employment Linkage, Inc. and is headquartered in State College, PA.

Featured

  • abstract representation of hybrid learning environment

    The Permanence of Change: Why Hybrid Is the New Baseline

    Hybrid learning is here to stay, and it's reshaping how campus spaces function.

  • Stanford Completes Construction on Graduate School of Education Facility

    Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., recently announced the end of construction on a new home for its Graduate School of Education, according to a news release. The university partnered with McCarthy Building Companies on the 160,000-square-foot project, which involved two major renovations and one new construction effort.

  • New City School

    Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Transforming New City School

    When New City School in St. Louis suffered catastrophic flood damage in July 2022, the event could have marked a serious setback for the 100-year-old institution. Instead, it became a forward-looking opportunity.

  • Spaces4Learning Launches 2026 Education Design Showcase Awards

    Spaces4Learning has opened submissions for the 2026 Education Design Showcase! The awards program launched in 1999 with the goal of celebrating innovative, practical solutions in the planning, design, and construction of K–12 and higher-education facilities. EDS recognizes new developments that help achieve optimal learning environments, as well as the architecture firms that brought the ideas to life.

Digital Edition