UAlbany Study Finds Significant Pay Gap Between Nurse Educators and Clinical Nurses

ALBANY, N.Y. (Dec. 9, 2025) — The production of new nurses to help address national nursing shortages starts with the educational pipeline. However, substantial and persistent salary disparities exist between nursing faculty and nurses working in clinical and non-academic roles across the U.S., according to a new study published in Nurse Educator by Center for Health Workforce Studies researchers at the University at Albany’s College of Integrated Health Sciences. The study utilized data from the 2022 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses.

The average annual salary for nursing faculty was $81,617, compared with $90,435 for other full-time nurses. After adjusting for demographic, educational and professional characteristics, including annual hours worked, nursing faculty earned $18,346 less than staff nurses, $19,863 less than charge nurses and $27,526 less than front-line nurse managers.

Nursing faculty typically have higher education levels and more nursing experience than many clinical nurses, yet still earn considerably less — suggesting that nurses who pursue academic careers often do so at a significant financial disadvantage.

The study highlights a critical structural challenge within nursing education: persistent pay disparities make it difficult for schools to recruit and retain qualified faculty. The ongoing faculty shortage limits program capacity, contributing to the widespread problem of qualified applicants being turned away from nursing programs despite rising demand for nurses nationwide.

“The data make it clear that compensation remains a significant barrier to building the nursing faculty workforce,” said David Armstrong, project director at the Center for Health Workforce Studies. “Nurses who are highly educated and experienced often have to accept a pay cut to teach the next generation. If we want to expand nursing program capacity and address workforce shortages, we must ensure that academic roles are financially competitive and professionally supported.”

In addition to increasing salaries, Center for Health Workforce Studies researchers emphasize that addressing the nursing faculty shortage will require coordinated action, including: 

1) offering scholarships, loan repayment and other incentives to attract nurses to academic roles,

2) providing mentorship and support for new faculty and 

3) ensuring faculty workloads are manageable and aligned with core educational responsibilities.