Job Stability Among U.S. University Presidents

Abstract

This paper examines job duration among U.S. university presidents from 2001 to 2006. Using data from the American Council of Education’s Survey of American College Presidents, this analysis finds that public university presidents are approximately 50 percent more likely to leave office than are their private university counterparts. This turnover translates into average job spells that are approximately 20 percent shorter for public university presidents. This job instability appears primarily to be driven by the higher propensity for public university presidents to leave one institution to become president at another institution