Key Findings on Administrative Cost Increases (as of 2025/2026):
Top 25 University Trend: At Canada’s Top 25 universities, "Other Salaries & Wages in Central Administration" surged by 175% since 2001 and by 52% since 2010 (adjusted for inflation).
Administration vs. Instruction: Expenditure on Central Administration has grown at roughly double the rate of instruction costs (40% vs. 22%) at the top 25 universities since 2011.
Rising Costs Per Faculty Dollar: Across the top 25 universities, the cost of administrative support rose from 51.1 cents per dollar of faculty salaries in 2010 to 59.7 cents in 2024.
Specific Examples:
Research has shown administrative positions growing at high rates, such as a 73% increase in administrative positions at several Nova Scotia universities over ten years, compared to just 5% faculty growth.
Recent Trends: Between 2016 and 2022, spending on "Administration" nationwide grew by 15 percent.
Those are interesting numbers. I've actually got a full post on education/healthcare administration numbers waiting for next week. But my data (based on StatCan labour force characteristics tables and the labour force survey microdata) shows employment (but not spending) ratios more or less stable. I'd love to see conflicting data before I publish: could you share your sources?
Universities are now (un-manageable?) state appendages captured by guild socialism, cultural Marxism, and its various pathologies such as DEI, ESG, CRT, and of course, the indigenous grievance industry. The humanities faculties should have been replaced with library cards well before the internet which could replace almost everything else. Why should mediocrity be replicated in medieval lecture theatres at numerous institutions when the best of the best could be put online at a small fraction of the cost. The professions should be liberated from their state monopoly right to practice guilds allowing competing non-state-corrupted governing bodies to offer quality in practitioners within the free marketpllace. One look at the numbers of current administrators to students ratio should answer the question of the viability of potential private and or non-profit alternative viability.
Thanks for putting a light on the illusion of higher education. The wordsmithing and misrepresentation of facts shows they aren’t really good at developing critical thinkers, because if they were they wouldn’t attempt to baffle us with bs.
I’m tired of funded institutions whining when they get taken off the tit. Methinks their relevance is declining and they lack the creative thinking to innovate their way to a reality based business model.
And I am totally with you … not the minds to look at ethics and policy on AI… they prostitute themselves for funding.
Maybe many of these institutions need to review the programs they offer and start cutting both programs and many of the overpaid ideological people masquerading as intellects and teachers. First step in making a university education relevant and worth pursuing is to offer programs that actually result in something productive and of value to society.
Key Findings on Administrative Cost Increases (as of 2025/2026):
Top 25 University Trend: At Canada’s Top 25 universities, "Other Salaries & Wages in Central Administration" surged by 175% since 2001 and by 52% since 2010 (adjusted for inflation).
Administration vs. Instruction: Expenditure on Central Administration has grown at roughly double the rate of instruction costs (40% vs. 22%) at the top 25 universities since 2011.
Rising Costs Per Faculty Dollar: Across the top 25 universities, the cost of administrative support rose from 51.1 cents per dollar of faculty salaries in 2010 to 59.7 cents in 2024.
Specific Examples:
Research has shown administrative positions growing at high rates, such as a 73% increase in administrative positions at several Nova Scotia universities over ten years, compared to just 5% faculty growth.
Recent Trends: Between 2016 and 2022, spending on "Administration" nationwide grew by 15 percent.
Those are interesting numbers. I've actually got a full post on education/healthcare administration numbers waiting for next week. But my data (based on StatCan labour force characteristics tables and the labour force survey microdata) shows employment (but not spending) ratios more or less stable. I'd love to see conflicting data before I publish: could you share your sources?
HI David,
Mostly from these:
https://www.ansut.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Culture-of-Entitlement-Report-2012-2021_FINAL-REVISED.pdf
https://higheredstrategy.com/update-on-university-finances/
https://universityfinances.ca/administrative-cost/
Rgds,
Harry
I appreciate that. I'll take a look.
Universities are now (un-manageable?) state appendages captured by guild socialism, cultural Marxism, and its various pathologies such as DEI, ESG, CRT, and of course, the indigenous grievance industry. The humanities faculties should have been replaced with library cards well before the internet which could replace almost everything else. Why should mediocrity be replicated in medieval lecture theatres at numerous institutions when the best of the best could be put online at a small fraction of the cost. The professions should be liberated from their state monopoly right to practice guilds allowing competing non-state-corrupted governing bodies to offer quality in practitioners within the free marketpllace. One look at the numbers of current administrators to students ratio should answer the question of the viability of potential private and or non-profit alternative viability.
Thanks for putting a light on the illusion of higher education. The wordsmithing and misrepresentation of facts shows they aren’t really good at developing critical thinkers, because if they were they wouldn’t attempt to baffle us with bs.
I’m tired of funded institutions whining when they get taken off the tit. Methinks their relevance is declining and they lack the creative thinking to innovate their way to a reality based business model.
And I am totally with you … not the minds to look at ethics and policy on AI… they prostitute themselves for funding.
Maybe many of these institutions need to review the programs they offer and start cutting both programs and many of the overpaid ideological people masquerading as intellects and teachers. First step in making a university education relevant and worth pursuing is to offer programs that actually result in something productive and of value to society.
Hahaha! Excellent job of hot-air balloon puncturing!