Higher Education Employee Benefits Survey Results
The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) has just issued the results of its annual survey of employee benefit programs in higher education institutions across the nation. The survey collected information on both health care and non-health care benefits for 2007-08, reflecting the responses of 404 institutions, 17 of which are systems reporting in the aggregate for all of their campuses. This brings the total number of institutions from across the nation that responded to 516.
The number of survey respondents was split almost evenly between public and private institutions, and based upon the degree classification 17% of respondents to the health care survey and 15% of respondents to the non-health care survey were Associate’s degree institutions, as opposed to Doctoral, Master’s Bachelor’s, or Specialized.
Health Care Benefits
Here are some of the major findings in from the health care portion of the survey:
· 87% of respondents provide access to on-campus fitness centers, 77% of which do so free at no cost to employees
· 48% of respondents have a wellness program, 56% of which have a separate budget and 40% of which have dedicated staff for the programs
· 32% of respondents have reviewed the disease prevalence of employees in the last 3 years
· PPO plans are the most commonly offered type of health plan, and 86% of respondents offer one or more such plans
· Consumer driven health plans (such as those connected with a health savings account or a health reimbursement arrangement) are offered by 15% of respondents, up from 11% in the prior year
· 88% of respondents offer stand-alone dental care plans
· 15% of respondents offer stand-alone prescription drug plans
· The percentage of respondents paying the entire premium for employee health care continues to decline: depending on the plan type, 19% to 27% of respondents pay the entire premium for employee only coverage, which was 30% to 35% in the prior year; 4% to 10% pay the entire premium for employee plus family coverage, as compared with 5% to 17% in the prior year
· Depending on the plan type, premiums for employee-only coverage increased by up to 7% over the prior year, and for employee plus family coverage the increase was as much as 8%
Non-Health Care Benefits
What follows are some of the major findings from the non-health care employee benefits portion of the survey:
· Almost all institutions provide basic life insurance, long-term disability, paid-time off, and tuition assistance
· In terms of paid-time off, the median number of paid holidays each year is 12, and the medial length of vacation leave in the first year of employment is 15 days for exempt/professional staff, 10 days for non-exempt/support staff, and 20 days for benefits-eligible faculty members
· Retirement benefits are provided by almost all institutions:
o 48% of respondents have a defined benefit plan (like PERS and STRS), down from 50% the year before and 91% in 2004
o 96% have a 403(b) defined contribution (tax sheltered annuity) plan, and smaller percentages of respondents offer 457(b) (deferred compensation), 401(a), and 401(k) plans
Conclusion
This data, when compared with prior years, cannot be treated as longitudinal because it’s not reported each year by each of the same institutions. However, some of these year-over-year trends track along with what we know about the broader trends in employee benefits. For example, it’s no surprise that, given the significant increases in health benefit costs in this decade, the number of higher education institutions that offer fully-paid health insurance plans to employees continues to decline, and that the premiums continue to rise each year.
To see the full report summary or to order a copy of the full report, go to http://www.cupahr.org/surveys/benefitssurvey2007-08.asp.
—Sheila G. Vickers