- Staff Benefits Expenditure in GO – $119 million (Up 156% since 2001, Up 34% since 2010)
- Staff Benefits Expenditure in Instruction – $78 million (Up 144% since 2001, Up 29% since 2010)
- Staff Benefits Expenditure in Central Administration – $19 million (Up 224% since 2001, Up 58% since 2010)
- Total General Operating Expenditure – $929.4 million (Up 98% since 2001, Up 29% since 2010)
- Enrollment – 35,034 (Up 59% since 2001, Up 22% since 2010)
On top of Salaries & Wages are Staff Benefits, which include pension and health plans (see HERE for an overview – pages 14-15). This is a high-cost area – accounting for over $119 million of GO expenditure (12.8%) at the average Top 25 university in 2024. That takes Total Staff Costs (salaries, wages and benefits) up to almost three-quarters of the entire GO budget.
Staff Benefits is an area that shouldn’t slip off the radar for three reasons – its very high cost, its high level of cost escalation, and the disparity evident in some of the numbers.
The chart below shows the change across the Top 25 since 2001 in “Real PSE Dollars” (adjusted for both inflation and increased enrollment). Positive values denote increases exceeding inflation and increased enrollment combined:
5 A) Changes in Real Staff Benefits Expenditure Per FTE Student – By Function (Top 25)
1 A) 2024Download this table (Opens in new tab)
Adding Staff Benefits into an already-troubling picture shows the cascading impact of losing control over Resource Allocation. The issues revealed in the Salaries and Wages topic are then compounded by the rapid escalation of Staff Benefits costs. Almost thirteen cents of every dollar of provincial funding and every dollar of student fees now go to that one line expense.
2024 Shares of Total GO Expenditure (Top 25):
- Staff Benefits in General Operating – 12.8% (9.9% in 2001, 12.4% in 2010 2010).
- Staff Benefits in Instruction – 8.4% (6.9% in 2001, 8.5% in 2010 2010).
- Staff Benefits in Central Administration – 2.0% (1.2% in 2001, 1.7% in 2010 2010).
It is insightful to evaluate the cost of Staff Benefits as a percentage of Salaries & Wages, and especially to see some disparities. Across the Top 25 in 2023 the benefits rates were:
- General Operating – 21.1%.
- Instruction – 20.2%
- Central Administration – 23.9%
Again, we see the Orwellian affect, as a different set of norms seems to apply to one particular sector of campus. It doesn’t paint a very flattering picture.
Efficiency Ranking
The underlying methodology for the Efficiency Ranking can be seen HERE.
5 B) STAFF BENEFITS COSTS: 2024 EFFICIENCY RANKINGS (TOP 50)
5 C) 2024Download this table (Opens in new tab)
Key Efficiency Indicator and Relative Cost Impact
The underlying methodology for the Key Efficiency Indicator and Relative Cost Impact calculation can be seen HERE.
These measures are provided for the Top 50, with 2020 as the base year, and for the Top 25, with 2010 as the base year. The Top 25 table shows the major dollar consequences of the efficiency decline in that timeframe.
5 C) KEY EFFICIENCY INDICATOR AND RCI: 2024 vs 2020 – and – vs LATEST GROUP AVERAGE (TOP 50) – Opens in new tab
5 D) KEY EFFICIENCY INDICATOR AND RCI: 2024 vs 2010 – and – vs LATEST GROUP AVERAGE (TOP 25) – Opens in new tab