Statistics

Take a glance at the figures on these pages (figs. 1 through 6) and you're not likely to be surprised. Average salaries in advancement tend to increase as one stays in the profession and, by extension, grows older. Also, the higher your level of education, the higher your compensation.

Since the 2005 compensation survey was published, average salaries for advancement professionals have steadily risen, though some have increased faster than others. Those who have been in the profession for 5 years or fewer have seen salary increases of 5 to 6 percent since 2005; those in the other categories have seen increases of 8 to 9 percent (fig. 1).

Figure 6 shows that salaries tend to flatten out for those older than 40. Salary growth since 2005 in the various age categories shows no particular pattern, bouncing from a low of 4 percent (20 to 25 years) to a high of 10 percent (46 to 50 years). Those 61 years old and above saw the second lowest increase-5 percent-while those in the age category right behind them saw the second highest increase-9 percent.

Figures 2 and 3 indicate another sort of mid-profession slowdown. Those who have been at an institution 6 to 10 years, 11 to 15 years, and 16 to 20 years saw their salaries grow by 8 percent, 6 percent, and less than 1 percent, respectively, since 2005. On either side, salaries grew more rapidly: 11 percent for 3 to 5 years and 9 percent for 20+ years. Salaries for newcomers to an institution and to a position (1 to 3 years in both figures) increased by 8 percent. For those who have been in their current position 6 to 10 years and 11 to 15 years, salaries have gone up 4 percent and 6 percent, respectively (fig. 3). Salaries for those at their current jobs 3 to 5 years rose 10 percent; for those at their current job 16 to 20 years, salaries grew 11 percent; for those in their job more than 20 years, they grew 14 percent.

Although 10 percent of respondents have been in advancement for 20+ years, only 6 percent have been at one institution for 20+ years and only 1 percent have been at their current position for that long. The largest pool of respondents lies in the "1-3 years in current position" category (fig. 3): 50 percent.

As would be expected, professionals with Ph.D.s are more highly compensated than those with high school diplomas (fig. 4). However, salaries in these two categories grew at the fastest pace: 9 percent (high school diplomas) and 13 percent (Ph.D.s). Salaries for those with associate's degrees grew by 5 percent; those with bachelor's and master's degrees saw increases of 8 and 7 percent, respectively.

Figure 5 introduces a new category to the racial/ethnic background mix-multiracial -so comparisons to 2005 data are not possible. However, most other categories saw 8 percent salary increases. The exceptions are average salaries for Native Americans, which increased 10 percent, and for Hispanics, which grew a whopping 23 percent.

Average salaries at private insitutions ($67,543) continue to lag behind those at public institutions ($69,895) just slightly; salaries at private institutions rose by 8 percent versus 7 percent at public institutions.