Salary and Staffing Survey

Important Update About the Salary and Staffing Survey 

When working toward the new strategic plan for the organization, we heard your request for a new Salary and Staffing Survey, with the last iteration completed in 2016. However, we have serious concerns about the data that this survey generated. Five years ago, ACHA launched the Institutional Profile Survey (IPS), part of the Data Warehouse that was renamed the Connected College Health Network (CCHN). IPS was created as an effort to streamline benchmarking and gather the most complete picture about the institutional resources that support student health and well-being at ACHA Member Institutions. Through completion of the IPS, member institutions will have access to comprehensive staffing data. This data is similar to what was previously found in the 2016 Staffing Survey and can be used to support strategic decision-making.

Salary data is not included in the IPS. Many positions within college health, especially clinical positions, draw from local candidate pools. Understanding local market rates for salaries is critical to stay competitive and attract the highest quality staff. Given the variability in cost-of-living, local wage standards, state income tax, and other factors such as added benefits (including tuition remission), benchmarking salaries in college health against a national average lacks accuracy, relevancy, and utility.

Further, salaries in college health are historically lower than comparable positions outside of higher education. ACHA leadership feels strongly that benchmarking salaries against other ACHA institutions risks perpetuating an underpaid workforce, which does not benefit our members.

Therefore, the Salary and Staffing Survey has been discontinued. We strongly encourage you to complete the IPS survey to obtain reports about staffing at institutions across the country. We encourage you to look toward local resources to gauge appropriate salaries to keep college health wages competitive and equitable.

Sincerely,
Jessica Higgs, President of ACHA
Susan Hochman, Chair of Benchmarking Committee and Research Strategy Task Force

Ordering Information for Those Who Wish to Purchase the 2016 Report

To order the report, please complete and submit an order form [pdf] by fax to 410-859-1510 or by email to jancheta@acha.org.

Or, purchase through ACHA's online store.

Survey participants receive an additional discount on the cost of the report. Not sure if your institution participated? Contact jancheta@acha.org.

Participants:

  • Institutional Members=$25
  • Non-members=$75

Non-Participants:

  • Institutional Members=$75
  • Individual Members at Non-Member Institutions=$100
  • Non-members=$200