Higher Education Employment Suffers Large Decline in Q3 2015

STATE COLLEGE, PA – The number of jobs in higher education declined 1.31 percent in Q3 2015, the fourth consecutive quarterly decline for the industry and the largest quarterly decline since at least 2007, according to a recent report from 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, colleges and universities lost about 21,200 jobs during the third quarter compared to the same period last year.  Broken out further, one-third of the positions, or 7,100 jobs, were at community colleges, despite making up only four percent of all higher education jobs.

While the number of jobs in higher education was down, the report found that ads for open positions in academia were up 23.4 percent. And, for the second quarter in a row, full-time job postings grew at a faster rate than part-time postings. 

“For the past few years, postings for part-time higher education jobs tended to grow at a faster pace — and comprised an increasing share — than postings for full-time higher education jobs," says John Ikenberry, president of HigherEdJobs. “But for two quarters in a row now, job postings for full-time positions have outpaced those for part-time.”

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. The full report can be viewed at www.higheredjobs.com.

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

  • UNL Kiewit Hall

    Designing for Engineering Excellence: Integrating Sustainability and Wellness at UNLs Kiewit Hall

    Kiewit Hall at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln exemplifies how academic institutions can integrate sustainability and wellness into modern learning environments. With an integrated and collaborative team approach, Kiewit Hall addresses enhanced learning and creativity, physical health, and mental wellness, and fosters a sense of community through innovative design, operations, and policy solutions.

  • New Arizona Fine Arts School Reaches Construction Milestone

    Construction of the new Hilltop School for the Arts and Theater in Litchfield Park, Ariz., recently hit a significant milestone, according to a news release. The Agua Fria High School District held a beam-signing ceremony to celebrate the building’s topping out, or the placement of its last structural beam.

  • iPark 87

    Building a Future-Focused Career and Technical Education Center

    A district superintendent shares his team's journey to aligning student passions with workforce demands, and why their new CTE center could be a model for districts nationwide.

  • Round Rock ISD Completes New Early College High School

    Round Rock ISD near Austin, Texas, recently announced that construction is complete on a new, 46,500-square-foot campus for Early College High School, according to a news release. The new facility will allow the school’s students and staff to move from portables into a permanent building and increase its enrollment to 500.