Dive Brief:
- Campus Technology released its 2015 salary survey this week, showing job satisfaction helps combat the relatively low pay in campus IT departments.
- According to the findings, the average salary at nonprofit public and private institutions was $75,621, with top IT leaders making more than $120,000 and help desk staffers making about $50,000.
- Employees at private nonprofit colleges are most optimistic about the chance of a raise, though very few expect a promotion and 24% said they would probably change employers in the coming year.
Dive Insight:
Campus IT employees feel hamstrung by budgets that limit their ability to pay people more competitive salaries and do all they are asked to do by administrators focused on making campuses ever more digital. In the for-profit world, the Campus Technology survey found a slightly higher average salary, $76,370, and just under half of employees have more than 10 years of experience. On the nonprofit side, nearly three-quarters of respondents had more than 10 years of experience. About the same proportions at each type of institution have been at their jobs for more than five years.
While IT professionals could pull in more money outside of academia, respondents pointed to the opportunity to learn more, tuition remission benefits, and good colleagues as positives of the trade-off.