Higher Education Employment Growth Stable as Job Postings Increase

STATE COLLEGE, PA – According to a new report from HigherEdJobs, the total number of jobs in higher education increased during the third quarter of 2018 but at a marginally slower rate compared to last year.

According to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data by HigherEdJobs, higher education employment increased 0.4 percent, or 13,800 jobs, during the third quarter of 2018. This was slightly less than the growth observed one year earlier in Q3 2017 when the number of higher education jobs increased by about 16,000 jobs. However, as noted in previous analyses, overall growth in higher education jobs was negatively impacted by a continuing decline in community college employment.

Meanwhile, the number of postings for open positions in higher education increased by 7.1 percent in Q3 2018, which was the highest third-quarter increase since Q3 2015.

Digging deeper into the job posting trends, the increase in higher education job postings occurred with both full-time and part-time faculty as well as full-time and part-time administrative openings. And, there was a relatively stable ratio of faculty to non-faculty job postings in the third quarter. However, there were several times more full-time postings for each part-time posting for both faculty and non-faculty positions.

"Though many colleges and universities are facing challenges at this moment, the data suggest many higher education administrators and managers are still confident in the industry or at least in their particular institution, planning for and funding both full-time faculty as well as administrative and executive positions," according to John Ikenberry, president and co-founder of HigherEdJobs.

The report analyzes the most current data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and HigherEdJobs' posting trends from roughly 880 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 2018, 5,300 colleges and universities posted more than 256,500 faculty, administrative, and executive job postings to the company's website, which receives 1.4 million unique visitors a month. HigherEdJobs is published by Internet Employment Linkage, Inc. and is headquartered in State College, PA.

Featured

  • Moline-Coal Valley School District to Consolidate Two Schools into New Facility

    The Moline-Coal Valley School District in Moline, Ill., recently broke ground on a new elementary school that will consolidate the students and staff from two existing schools, according to local news. Robert Ontiveros Elementary School will serve as the new home for Lincoln-Irving Elementary School and Willard Elementary School.

  • Doerr School of Sustainability Accelerator

    From Concrete Warehouse to Innovation Hub: Accelerating Sustainability at Stanford

    The transformation of a once windowless, concrete publishing warehouse into a sun-drenched center for global innovation began with a single, fundamental challenge: how to turn an industrial storage shell into a space built for human connection.

  • Zurn Elkay Releases 2025 Sustainability Report

    Zurn Elkay Water Solutions recently announced the release of its annual sustainability report, according to a news release. The 2025 report discusses the organization’s efforts to maintain good environmental stewardship and the solutions provided in helping customers meet sustainability goals.

  • 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.