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 | 65% | 60% | 60% | 64% | 67% | 56% | 17% | 15% | 69% |
| FY2024 | 66% | 56% | 65% | 72% | 71% | 60% | 21% | 15% | 70% |
| FY2023 | 62% | 62% | 66% | 74% | 65% | 63% | 18% | 18% | 73% |
| FY2022 | 71% | 51% | 61% | 75% | 67% | 57% | 13% | 17% | 74% |
| FY2021 | 70% | 63% | 54% | 66% | 70% | 70% | 42% | 19% | 83% |
| FY2020 | 66% | 56% | 64% | 64% | 68% | 66% | 51% | 18% | 89% |
| FY2019 | 66% | 55% | 63% | 47% | 78% | 68% | 44% | 19% | 82% |
| FY2018 | 64% | 53% | 63% | 64% | 63% | 59% | 68% | 19% | 76% |
| FY2017 | 64% | 58% | 61% | 64% | 67% | 64% | 53% | 61% | — |
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.