Research & Planning Publishes Community College Market Pay Study

http://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/education_costs/
community_college_pay_study.pdf

by: Michele Holmes, Public Relations Specialist

Table and Figure

The Research & Planning (R&P) section of the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services recently released the Wyoming Community College Market Pay Study, after a request from Wyoming’s community college presidents. The report focuses on wages earned by those working in community colleges in Wyoming, the history of compensation in Wyoming and the region, and labor market trends driving demand in the educational services industry. Key findings of the report include:

• Table

  Employment in Wyoming’s community college system makes up nearly half (47.4%) of the total employment in higher education (see the Table) – more than twice that of any other border state.

• Postsecondary education administrators in Utah were paid an estimated $90,990 in comparison to $79,350 in Wyoming.
• Public schools in Wyoming tend to pay higher average wages than community colleges, and Colorado community colleges pay wages that are higher than both sectors in Wyoming.

• Figure

  Nearly one in three persons working in educational services in Wyoming is age 55 and over, and 67.2% of those workers hold a bachelor’s degree or higher (see the Figure). The large number of workers approaching retirement age may represent a recruitment cost for community colleges in Wyoming.
• Employment growth in all industries was stronger in Colorado, Utah, and Idaho than in Wyoming in third quarter 2013. Strong employment growth and occupational diversity in bordering states may attract labor, including teachers.

The report also makes recommendations for further research, including responding to gaps in the data, many of which can be addressed through implementing a standardized approach to data collection. Research & Planning will meet later this month with human resources directors from Wyoming’s community colleges to discuss the implementation of standardized data collection and the possibilities for further market pay analysis.

The complete Wyoming Community College Market Pay Study can be found at http://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/education_costs/community_college_pay_study.pdf.

---

(Table and Figure)

 

Table: Distribution of Employment in Post Secondary Education for Wyoming and Border States, 2012/13

State	Colleges (6112)		Universities (6113)		Post- Secondary
	N	Row %	N	Row %	N
Colorado	11,187	19.7	45,473	80.3	56,660
Idaho	2,209	14.5	13,062	85.5	15,271
Montana	1,594	14.0	9,813	86.0	11,407
Nebraska	6,033	21.2	22,429	78.8	28,462
South Dakota	860	9.4	8,275	90.6	9,134
Utah	5,165	13.6	32,939	86.4	38,104
Wyoming	3,374	47.4	3,744	52.6	7,118
Wyoming QCEWa	3,370	46.6	3,856	53.4	7,226
Source: Occupational Employment Statistics Aggregation for 2013. aSource: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) Average for November 2012 and May 2013.