Policy Center header with image of capitol dome

23 Feb 2017
Infographic

Infographic Series: The Non-Tenured Majority

Contingent—also known as adjunct or clinical—faculty are college instructors who are not in a tenure-track position or are at an institution without a tenure system. According to a recent study by AIR’s Delta Cost Project for the TIAA Institute, contingent instructors made up at least half of instructional faculty in 2013 among different types of institutions. 

Find out more in this infographic, its companion blog, Trade-offs of Increasing Contingent Faculty, and the rest of AIR’s work on contingent faculty.

Infographic: Contingent Faculty Across Institutions

Infographic: Contingent College Faculty by Flagship State Schools

Infographic: Contingent College Faculty by Admission Selectivity

Related Work

1 Feb 2017
Spotlight

Spotlight on Contingent Faculty

Colleges and universities are relying heavily on contingent faculty to increase flexibility and reduce costs. These resources explore this trend to determine where contingent faculty are most often hired and savings actually result in lower overall costs.
Topic: 
Adult Learning and the Workforce, Higher Education
23 Feb 2017
Blog Post

Trade-offs of Increasing Contingent Faculty

U.S. colleges and universities are increasingly hiring contingent faculty, or full- and part-time faculty who work on contract. While institutions say doing so saves money, two studies by the Delta Cost Project at AIR find the strategy has not translated into a large overall savings. In this blog post, Deanna Hill and Steve Hurlburt share these results and consider whether long-term unintended consequences may off-set short-term cost savings.
Topic: 
Higher Education and Career Readiness, Higher Education

Further Reading