Recent hires vs. incumbents
A recently-hired employee’s median salary as a percentage of continuing employees’ median, each year. Below 100% means recent hires earn less than the typical incumbent (expected for faculty, where incumbents are more senior); a falling line hints at starting pay lagging.
| Fiscal year | Georgia Tech | UGA | Georgia State | Kennesaw State | Georgia Southern | West Georgia | Georgia Gwinnett | Valdosta State | Augusta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | 79% | 84% | 29% | 27% | 48% | 24% | 24% | 14% | 69% |
| FY2024 | 75% | 66% | 29% | 66% | 59% | 21% | 21% | 20% | 69% |
| FY2023 | 57% | 51% | 45% | 66% | 52% | 19% | 26% | 21% | 66% |
| FY2022 | 78% | 77% | 40% | 85% | 66% | 18% | 74% | 21% | 91% |
| FY2021 | 62% | 69% | 20% | 37% | 45% | 87% | 20% | 18% | 82% |
| FY2020 | 61% | 67% | 31% | 47% | 52% | 64% | 36% | 15% | 93% |
| FY2019 | 68% | 76% | 25% | 24% | 79% | 67% | 25% | 20% | 77% |
| FY2018 | 74% | 73% | 28% | 42% | 68% | 53% | 34% | 19% | 64% |
| FY2017 | 65% | 76% | 28% | 26% | 80% | 82% | 52% | 21% | — |
The salary data reports funds paidin a year, not the annual contract rate, so a person’s first year is usually partial (they started mid-year) — verified here: the median first-to-second-year change is +35–71% but second-to-third is only +2–3%. So a “recent hire” is measured in their secondyear (first full year), and only when it directly follows their first appearance; that first appearance must be 2016 or later (2015 is the censored baseline). Everyone who appeared earlier is an incumbent. A first-appearance proxy still can’t see people who left and returned.