The number of administrative employees at the University of Minnesota has grown at a faster rate than either faculty or student enrollment.
This growth is a sign of a nationwide trend some researchers call “administrative bloat,” and what others term the rise of fake email jobs.
Universities have used excess revenue to hire full-time administrators and other professionals at far higher rates than faculty, Forbes reported. But higher education institutions nationwide are facing an “enrollment cliff” over the next few years as undergraduate student enrollment declines by around 15%.
At the University, the number of administrative employees increased by 20% since 2016, with nearly half of those hired in the last three years. Enrollment and faculty hiring increased at less than half that rate.
Student enrollment and research funding have both grown in the last decade, requiring more staff to support research and student services, said Mary Rohman Kuhl, senior director of total rewards. Both the increase in research and enrollment are good news, she added.
The University spent $609 million on research in 2006 to $1.37 billion in 2023, due in part to inflation, and it requires faculty to manage and conduct the research, Rohman Kuhl said. Increased enrollment has pushed the University to dedicate more time to student advising or supporting students’ mental health.
There has been a shift away from paper forms and toward digital documents and accessibility screenings, Rohman Kuhl said. This requires staff to handle processing and form development.
“Greater administration is needed when there’s more demands put on institutions, when there’s additional research work, that requires people to be in all different areas to support that work,” Rohman Kuhl said.
How long can universities keep this up?
One factor behind the impending enrollment cliff is the country’s declining fertility rate, which economists and policy experts have been calling attention to for decades, said Paul Weinstein Jr., the author of the Forbes article and teacher at Johns Hopkins University.
Weinstein said international student enrollment is declining because of increased competition from stronger colleges in their home countries and in Europe and Australia.
The Trump administration’s crackdown on international students for minor criminal offenses is pushing international students away from U.S. colleges and universities, Weinstein said.
“This has been a growth industry for a long time,” Weinstein said. “They’re about to face a very different period coming.”
Universities in the U.S. offer amenities that are uncommon in other countries, such as athletic facilities, tutoring and writing centers, Weinstein said. Schools continue to offer these administrator-run services to keep up with the competition.
“Most of what career services does is work with people on their interviewing skills and how to build a resume,” Weinstein said. “That’s nice and all, but that’s the kind of thing you could probably do on the internet without having to pay for all these services.”
Deciding where to cut costs is a decision unique to each university, Weinstein said. Every school has its own list of priorities, whether that be subsidizing student clubs, keeping class sizes small or prioritizing wellness.
“We’re going to have to figure out ways to cut those costs. Honestly, universities have never really had to tighten their belts,” Weinstein said.
A push for accreditation standards in the last few decades has led to universities hiring individuals to assess departments and programs. Many of these individuals “aren’t really doing much of anything useful,” Weinstein said, except making faculty spend hours on paperwork self-assessments.
Some growth in administrative roles is in response to government demands, such as research administrators who help faculty apply for grants with intensive application processes, Weinstein said.
“Those are the kinds of questions you need to ask, and schools just haven’t done that,” Weinstein said.
The number of administrators and other academic professionals increased at many private and public universities between 1976 and 2018, from doubling to increasing fivefold, a 2021 study found. This rate of hiring outpaced student enrollment, which rose by 78%.
Many of these positions serve to support and justify the existence of leadership administrative positions, said Michael Delucchi, an independent researcher and retired professor who led the report.
Delucchi said he encountered an example of wasteful work at his previous university when he was required to submit his course syllabi for someone in the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Office to analyze for legal holes, such as protecting students’ right to privacy.
Delucchi declined to submit the materials and was never contacted, a sign that “nobody’s reading it.”
The cost of losing international students
Tuition at the University for students from Minnesota or a state or territory with reciprocity is $7,574 per semester. For out-of-state students, the rate is $18,148. International students pay $19,259 per semester.
International students contributed $52 billion in income to universities last year, almost a third of the U.S.’ agricultural exports for comparison, said Ed Gresser, vice president and director for trade and global markets at the Progressive Policy Institute.
“We’re by far the biggest supplier of education services in the country,” Gresser said.
Accepting international students into the U.S. also sets up relationships with the future leaders in other countries. If a student’s experience is paying tens of thousands of dollars to attend university and being kicked out of the country for a minor traffic violation, it will leave a lasting negative impression of the U.S., Gresser said.
Gresser said the tuition that international students pay helps reduce the cost for American students.
“The Trump administration is not really a friend of international students,” Gresser said. “There is a lot of alarm and nervousness among international students.”
The Chinese government advised its students against studying in the U.S. and to consider universities in other countries like the U.K. or Australia.
Some universities have made investments in buildings or have hired administrative staff based on the revenue they receive from international students, Gresser said. The Trump administration’s visa revocations are raising serious questions about how much money universities can expect in the next few years and what might need to be cut.
“And who’s going to take the hit? Is it going to be the low-income students, the administrative staff, research and scholarships?” Gresser said.
Preparing for a smaller budget
The University is planning for a possible loss in federal funding and the impacts on its employees, students and research, Rohman Kuhl said. The University received $628 million in research funding from federal sources, such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
In February, the Trump administration announced it would cut $4 billion in federal funding for research at universities. University officials are also anticipating less funding from the state in the next fiscal year.
Rohman Kuhl said the University may have “really tough choices” to make regarding what research to continue funding. Discontinuing some projects could mean losing decades of research data.
During the pandemic, Rohman Kuhl said some higher paid employees and senior leaders proposed taking a pay cut if it meant the University could “keep more people on the boat.”
Though circumstances are different now, Rohman Kuhl said she thinks there will be a very big interest in protecting people.
Higher salary increases for top leaders
The University president’s salary has increased by 80.5% since 2006, while the median-earning employee has seen an increase of 56%. Rohman Kuhl said this gap is likely due to different salary standards for different types of positions.
The University is just below the 50th percentile in compensation for senior leaders compared to other R1 universities that are high in research activity, according to data from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.
The University had a poor infrastructure for deciding job titles for many years, Rohman Kuhl said. Groups could pick titles for roles without a system, whereas other major institutions have strict rules for how jobs are named and sorted.
The University conducted a Job Family study and a pay comparison study to rename job roles to better reflect the work an employee is doing. Before that system, it was difficult to accurately track changes prior to 2016 at the University, Rohman Kuhl said.
She added it was also hard to compare salary data to other institutions and determine if University salaries are fair and competitive.
“You’re trying to chase the market and get people hired at competitive rates,” Rohman Kuhl said, and salaries for current employees rise to keep them at the same level as new hires.
The University increased its total spending on payroll almost doubled in the last two decades, from $920 million to $1.75 billion. Much of this is due to inflation, but Rohman Kuhl said it does not take a lot of new roles to start making up $310 million. She said it happens quickly.
One goal for the University now that it has accurate employee data is making sure all employees are paid a market-competitive salary, Rohman Kuhl said.