The California State University's ability to fulfill its mission depends on attracting, retaining and supporting exceptional faculty and staff. Maintaining competitive compensation is a key part of that commitment. It helps ensure that the CSU can continue recruiting and retaining the talented and mission-focused faculty and staff our students, universities and communities deserve.
As the largest four-year public university system in the nation, the CSU is committed to making informed, data-driven decisions about employee compensation that support both our workforce and the system's long-term sustainability.
The CSU commissioned an independent compensation study to better understand how represented instructional faculty and represented staff compensation compares with relevant higher education labor markets. These compensation studies are conducted regularly to assess market competitiveness and inform equitable compensation practices. The study was conducted by The Segal Group (Segal), a nationally recognized compensation, benefits and human resources firm with special expertise in higher education.
The study is one phase of a comprehensive, multi-year review of compensation across all CSU employee groups:
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Phase 1: Campus presidents and system executives.
- Results for that study were presented to the Board of Trustees in November 2025 and January 2026.
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Phase 2: Represented instructional faculty and represented staff.
- Phase 3: Represented non-instructional faculty (counselors and librarians), Management Personnel Plan employees and non-represented staff
- Results expected in fall 2026.
The study demonstrates the CSU's commitment to making thoughtful, evidence-based investments in its workforce. Overall, the study found that the CSU's compensation is generally aligned with the broader higher education market, while identifying important differences across campuses, disciplines and regional labor markets. The findings also show measurable progress since the CSU's previous compensation studies in 2022 and 2023, reflecting the university's continued investment in employee compensation and commitment to becoming an employer of choice in public higher education.
“Talented, mission-driven faculty and staff are essential to student success and are the strength of the CSU. The CSU's compensation philosophy is based upon maintaining total compensation that meets the needs of our employees throughout their career—and is founded on a commitment to ensure fair compensation and benefits through collective bargaining and transparent communication. The recently completed independent faculty and staff salary study provides us with the comprehensive, objective and timely data we need to honor that philosophy and demonstrates our commitment to being the employer of choice in public higher education. We will carefully analyze the study's findings to inform next steps and future proposals related to employee compensation."
CSU Chancellor Mildred García
