Salaries for nursing faculty and program administrators should be top of mind for every university executive who is aware of the upward wage pressures created by the nursing shortage. It is increasingly difficult to compete for qualified faculty in a time of high demand for nurses.
What are nurses in academia making now? The most recent American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) salary study tells us what schools across the country paid last year. The tables below will help you know where your nursing faculty and leaders stand in this competitive market. If your school is significantly out of line with what others are paying, you may already be finding it difficult to recruit and retain this essential resource.
Mean and Median Salaries for All Full-Time Nurse Faculty
by Rank and Degree Level, 2021-2022
| Academic Year Basis | Calendar Year Basis | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank and Degree Level | Mean | Median | Mean | Median |
| Professor | ||||
| Doctoral | $120,012 | $113,436 | $146,682 | $138,645 |
| Nondoctoral | $69,962 | $71,448 | $85,509 | $87,325 |
| Associate Professor | ||||
| Doctoral | $95,166 | $92,009 | $116,314 | $112,455 |
| Nondoctoral | $71,617 | $69,289 | $87,531 | $84,686 |
| Assistant Professor | ||||
| Doctoral | $82,719 | $81,000 | $101,101 | $99,000 |
| Nondoctoral | $68,115 | $66,059 | $83,252 | $80,739 |
| Instructor | ||||
| Doctoral | $71,162 | $69,699 | $86,976 | $85,188 |
| Nondoctoral | $64,693 | $64,000 | $79,069 | $78,222 |
Salaries of Deans/Directors/Chairs of Baccalaureate
and Higher Degree Programs in Nursing
by Program Type, Number of Full-Time Faculty,
Description of Nursing Program, and Type of Institution
| Quartile | 10th | 25th | 50th/Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| By Program Type | |||||
| Baccalaureate Only | $79,347 | $91,000 | $111,222 | $130,000 | $152,038 |
| Baccalaureate and Master’s | $88,000 | $105,844 | $126,496 | $150,000 | $180,000 |
| Baccalaureate, Master’s and Doctoral | $109,429 | $132,000 | $178,000 | $261,000 | $347,150 |
| Graduate Only | $115,000 | $165,000 | $210,000 | $312,000 | $442,000 |
| By Number of Full-Time Faculty | |||||
| 10 or less | $79,736 | $91,544 | $110,000 | $127,500 | $150,000 |
| 11–20 Faculty | $95,000 | $112,734 | $127,812 | $150,000 | $181,856 |
| 21–30 Faculty | $107,000 | $121,572 | $143,986 | $165,501 | $210,000 |
| 31–40 Faculty | $140,000 | $156,000 | $189,000 | $234,819 | $321,420 |
| 41–60 Faculty | $137,113 | $185,895 | $252,500 | $317,941 | $348,000 |
| More than 60 | $179,199 | $240,428 | $324,500 | $375,928 | $449,500 |
| By Description of Nursing Program | |||||
| College of Nursing | $125,000 | $160,626 | $219,000 | $304,500 | $348,000 |
| School of Nursing | $95,580 | $119,919 | $145,644 | $195,000 | $335,000 |
| Department of Nursing | $83,589 | $95,447 | $115,000 | $134,000 | $168,056 |
| Division of Nursing | $85,786 | $98,765 | $114,854 | $130,778 | $150,000 |
| Program of Nursing | $73,000 | $92,500 | $115,000 | $128,670 | $152,000 |
| By Type of Institution | |||||
| Public | $97,000 | $118,000 | $142,520 | $220,000 | $334,750 |
| Secular | $89,445 | $115,963 | $141,651 | $187,000 | $307,038 |
| Religious | $85,000 | $95,000 | $115,000 | $142,860 | $190,000 |
| University | $90,406 | $110,000 | $135,000 | $188,000 | $315,000 |
| College | $84,000 | $102,000 | $124,500 | $150,000 | $195,000 |
*The term “dean” refers to the chief executive officer of a school of nursing, regardless of the institutionally determined title (director, chair, head, coordinator, and so on).
If you’d like more information from these salary studies, contact Dr. Carole Eldridge, Synergis CNO, at [email protected]