Tenure-Track Ranks Grew Last Year, Survey Finds

The number of faculty—including those on the tenure track—is on the rise, new data from College and University Professional Association for Human Resources shows.

According to a survey of more than 900 colleges and universities about their worker head counts published this week, the number of tenure-track faculty increased 7 percent between the 2024–25 and 2025–26 academic years—marking the highest single-year increase since 2016. By contrast, tenure-track ranks only grew 1 percent between the 2023–24 and 2024–25 academic years.

The number of non-tenure-track faculty also grew by 2 percent between 2024 and 2025. However, that growth was smaller than the previous year, when the non-tenure-track workforce grew 3.6 percent. According to the report, “this was the first time in the decade that tenure-track faculty growth exceeded non-tenure-track faculty growth.” Head counts for adjunct faculty also increased by 0.9 percent, up from 0.3 percent growth between the 2023–24 and 2024–25 academic years.

At the same time, both full-time and part-time staff head counts decreased following years of positive growth, according to the survey. Between the 2024–25 and 2025–26 academic years, full-time staff sizes decreased 6.6 percent and part-time and part-time staff dropped by 23.9 percent, ending a multiyear period of positive growth that peaked at 6.5 percent in 2024.

“The sharp reversal underscores the greater volatility of part-time positions relative to full-time roles and indicates that institutions cut staffing levels broadly in 2025—though part-time positions bore the brunt of the reductions,” the report said.