Beyond Cost Savings: Why Adjunct Faculty Retention Matters for Student Equity

Over the past three decades, the faculty in US higher education have undergone a structural shift. Where full-time, tenure-line faculty once constituted the majority of college instructors, today non-tenure-track or part-time faculty teach nearly three out of four courses (American Association of University Professors [AAUP], 2022). Institutions often justify their reliance on contingent labor as a pragmatic solution to fiscal pressures and enrollment fluctuations. Adjunct instructors are paid on a per-course basis, generally without health benefits or job security, yielding immediate savings to institutional budgets (TIAA Institute, 2018).