In 2019, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) began exploratory data collection for the School Pension Survey (SPS). The SPS is a new data collection of elementary/secondary school teacher pension data collected at the school district level. The SPS was developed primarily in response to public demand for data on teacher and other…

Most public school teachers in the United States are enrolled in defined benefit (DB) pension plans. Using administrative micro data from four states, combined with national pension funding data, we show these plans have accumulated substantial unfunded liabilities -- effectively debt -- owing to previous plan operations. On average across 49…

Utilising critical theory, we explored the causes of the conflict that arose between academic staff on fixed-term renewable contracts and university administrators at Mzuzu University in Malawi in order to draw lessons. We collected data using semi-structured, in-depth interviews and document analysis. Ten university employees were purposively…

Teacher pension systems concentrate retirements within a narrow range of the career cycle by penalizing individuals who separate too soon or remain employed too long. The penalties result in the retention of some teachers who would otherwise choose to leave, and the premature exit of some teachers who would otherwise choose to stay. We examine the…

Presents data from a study of member institutions of the Association of American Universities to determine the extent to which early retirement is being used in the nation's higher education institutions. (Editor/PG)

This publication reviews and analyzes the research on issues affecting faculty supply and demand in higher education and looks at how recent research can assess future trends. An introduction describes many researchers' prediction that three trends will soon create a faculty shortage: (1) increasing faculty retirements based on extensive hiring…

This report offers an analysis of college faculty supply and demand as well as an evaluation of currently available data on this issue. The report was undertaken in response to three concurrent trends which point to significant faculty shortages beginning in 1995. The report begins with a descriptive overview of current faculty demographics that…