N&O: A coming faculty retirement crisis

James H. Johnson Jr.
Dec. 13, 2007

CHAPEL HILL - Dramatic expansion of higher education in the late 1960s through the 1970s to accommodate the "boomer" population -- the 76 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 -- led to a surge in new faculty hires. Like a pig in a python, this cohort of faculty is now rapidly approaching retirement age.

In 2006, 60 percent of all UNC system faculty were aging baby boomers, that is, between age 42 and 60. Thirty seven percent were 55 or older, and 16 percent were pre-boomers, that is, 61 or older. Only 19 percent were under 40 in 2006. For the UNC system, this impending wave of faculty retirees constitutes a major problem. Click here to read more....