NCES is conducting the second cycle of the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty. The first cycle was conducted in 1988. The study will provide a national profile of faculty in 4-year (doctoral-granting and other 4-year) and 2-year higher education institutions. Information on the backgrounds, responsibilities, workloads, salaries, benefits, and attitudes of both full- and part-time instructional and noninstructional faculty in their many and varied higher education institutions will be ascertained. Because faculty directly affect the quality of education in colleges and universities and perform much of the research and development work upon which the nation's technological and economic advancement depends, it is essential to understand who they are, what they do, and whether, how, and why they are changing.
