For professors at the University of Oregon, salaries are notably lower than those of their peers at other universities. The average annual salary of a full professor at the UO is $139,800, whereas the American Association of Universities averages $174,300.
Faculty of all ranks see differences in salary depending on their department. Across all programs in the College of Arts and Sciences, the average salary is just $117,400, whereas the average salary of the School of Journalism and Communication is $109,800.
According to Keaton Miller, an associate professor of economics at UO, several factors determine total salaries for faculty members. The salaries within departments are decided by the deans of individual colleges as well as the Office of the Provost. The market conditions are taken into account, as well as how other faculty members are paid and the financial standing of the departments themselves.
Pay raises also contribute to the salaries offered to faculty, following contract agreements between United Academics and the university.
“Once you’re here, for the most part, salaries change as a consequence of the pay raises that are negotiated between United Academics and the university,” Miller said. “United Academics does not stop the university from offering pay raises to anybody at any time. Most of the pay raises come through those contractual things.”
Looking at the university system as a whole, tuition costs often increase to reflect changes in inflation along with additional or growing costs of a research-based institution. At UO, incoming freshmen typically face a 3% tuition increase from the previous year. Current students do not face these increases under the Oregon Guarantee.
The university budget is largely funded by student tuition. During fiscal year 2024, the projected revenue report totals $503 million from tuition and fees alone. The projected revenue for FY24 is approximately $1.4 billion, leaving $871.8 million for other university expenses.
The projected expenditures for salary and other payroll expenses stand at $498 million. This includes professors, dining hall employees and other classified or student workers at the university.
Since joining the University of Oregon in March 2023, President John Karl Scholz has received an annual base salary of $725,000 over a five-year period. In comparison, President Barbara Wilson of the University of Iowa, which has been a member of the Big 10 conference since 1899, has received an annual salary of $700,000 following several pay raises since 2022. President Jay Rothman of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, another Big 10 university, receives a base salary of $550,000.
UO student Kae Neuman, a music history and culture major, was surprised to hear the average pay of professors.
“I have two campus jobs, so it’s interesting to know that even the tenured professors are underpaid,” Neuman said. “I think the UO spends too much on the sports programs. That’s their little baby, and that’s what they’re always going to give priority to.”
Another student, music major Abby Bradley, recognized that differences in salary are present across all departments.
“Even in the School of Music, I know a lot of professors who put in a ton of outside work, and asked to put in extra hours to do extra projects and stuff,” Bradley said. “They’re not compensated. A professor I know who does the most — he’s always doing stuff outside of work — he makes like $70,000.”
