Category: higher ed workforce turnover

  • More Than Half of Financial Aid Employees Likely to Seek Other Employment Within the Next Year – CUPA-HR

    More Than Half of Financial Aid Employees Likely to Seek Other Employment Within the Next Year – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | May 13, 2024

    A majority of those who work in financial aid at the nation’s colleges and universities are job hunting, according to new research from CUPA-HR and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA). What are they looking for? Better pay, opportunities to work remotely and a more flexible schedule.

    A new report examining pay, pay equity, staffing, representation and retention in the higher ed financial aid workforce outlines several findings from analyses of data of financial aid employees from CUPA-HR’s 2022-23 higher ed workforce surveys and the 2023 Higher Education Employee Retention Survey. Positions included in the analyses are chief student financial aid officers, deputy heads of financial aid and student financial aid counselors.

    The analyses found that more than half (56%) of financial aid employees are at least somewhat likely to seek other employment opportunities within the next 12 months, with 1 in 3 (33%) being likely or very likely to do so. Four in 5 (79%) rank a pay increase as one of the top three reasons they would seek other employment opportunities, while 3 in 5 (59%) rank an opportunity to work remotely as one of the top three reasons they would seek other employment opportunities. The desire for a flexible schedule is also ranked as a top reason for seeking other employment by nearly 2 in 5 (37%) financial aid employees.

    Other Findings

    • Institutions with the highest number of FAFSA applications have far more student financial aid counselors than institutions with the lowest number of FAFSA applications. At each increase in FAFSA application quartile, the median number of student financial aid counselors per institution doubles (or nearly doubles). Institutions with the greatest number of FAFSA applications on median have six more student financial aid counselors than institutions with the least number of FAFSA applications.
    • On median, institutions have four financial aid employees working in one of the three examined positions. Thirteen percent of institutions have a one-person financial aid office. Even the institutions that process the lowest number of FAFSA applications tend to have need for more than one person working in their office – over half of these institutions have at least three people in their financial aid office.
    • The representation of people of color declines as the level of financial aid position increases. The representation of people of color is almost two times higher among student financial aid counselors than among chief student financial aid officers. The representation of women overall among chief student financial aid officers is lower than the representation of women within the lower-level financial aid positions, but the difference is much smaller than the declines seen for people of color.
    • Pay equity is lower among chief student financial aid officers than among lower-level financial aid positions. Black women and Hispanic or Latino men are paid equitably within student financial aid counselor and deputy head of student financial aid positions, but not within the chief student financial aid officer position. At each increase in position level, White women’s pay relative to White men in the same position decreases. White women are paid equitably to White men in student financial aid counselor positions but are paid only 94 cents per $1 paid to White men in chief student financial aid officer positions.
    • Among financial aid employees, years in position is lowest among student financial aid counselors. Of all financial aid positions, student financial aid counselors have the highest concentration of people who have been in their position for fewer than two years (43%). Retention is better among deputy heads of student financial aid and chief student financial aid officers; one-third have been in their position for 10 years or longer.

    Read the full report, The Higher Education Financial Aid Workforce: Pay, Representation, Pay Equity, and Retention, and explore the interactive graphics.



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  • Voluntary Turnover in the Higher Ed Workforce Is Trending Downward – CUPA-HR

    Voluntary Turnover in the Higher Ed Workforce Is Trending Downward – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | May 8, 2024

    The workforce retention challenges higher education has been experiencing post-pandemic might just be letting up. A recent trend analysis of turnover data collected in CUPA-HR’s annual higher education workforce surveys found that in 2023-24, voluntary turnover rates for faculty and staff trended downward for the first time in three years.

    CUPA-HR began collecting turnover data in 2017-18. In the three years prior to the pandemic, there was little variability year to year in voluntary turnover (voluntary separations not due to retirement), and in the year immediately following the pandemic’s onset (2020-21), there were slight dips in voluntary turnover for each category of staff and faculty, likely due to the economic uncertainty that characterized that year. However, voluntary turnover trended upward in 2021-22 and again in 2022-23, with the highest voluntary turnover occurring in 2022-23.

    The largest decline in voluntary turnover rates was for part-time non-exempt staff (down 6.4 percentage points, from 21.4% in 2022-23 to 15.0% in 2023-24). However, there were notable declines in voluntary turnover for full-time exempt staff and full-time non-exempt staff as well.

    Findings on Overall Current Turnover

    • In considering turnover from all types of separations (i.e., voluntary and involuntary), overall turnover of faculty and staff combined in 2023-24 was 14%. Turnover in 2023-24 was higher than pre-pandemic rates (approximately 12%), but lower than the 16% high of 2022-23.
    • In 2023-24, overall turnover was highest for part-time non-exempt staff (22%) and lowest for faculty (7% for tenure-track and 11% for non-tenure-track faculty).
    • Involuntary turnover rates were highest for full-time non-exempt staff (2.1%) and full-time exempt staff (1.4%). Retirement rates were highest for tenure-track faculty (2.2%) and full-time non-exempt staff (2.0%).

    Explore the Higher Ed Workforce Turnover interactive graphics.



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