NIRSA Salary Benchmarking for Campus Recreation

Supported by the NIRSA Foundation

Data collection and comparisons for the NIRSA Salary Survey are currently unavailable. Custom reports are still available; see below for details. Watch for an email or NIRSA news article in the coming months for more information about NIRSA’s research portfolio.

The NIRSA 2021 Salary Survey is currently open

All individuals who work in campus recreation are encouraged to participate by entering their current salary information (2021-2022 academic year). All participants get access to results. NIRSA Member schools receive access to filter features. Take the survey now and view results.

Since 1987, NIRSA has conducted a biennial salary census of professional positions in the campus recreation field and has provided salary benchmarking resources to members.

Access to these various resources are benefits of NIRSA Professional and Institutional Membership.

NIRSA Foundation Logo

This resource was created through the support of the NIRSA Foundation.

Learn more about the NIRSA Foundation »

NIRSA On-Demand Salary Benchmarking

All professional members who participate in the NIRSA Salary Census have free access to this benchmarking resource.

Anyone in the recreation profession can participate in the Salary Census. To participate, read the informed consent statement and login to the platform using your nirsa.me credentials. Results access varies by membership type.

Participants in the Salary Census are eligible to receive a free or discounted NIRSA Campus Recreation Salary Report.

Member Class Participated in Census Did not participate in Census
Premier Member
Professional Member at Member Institution		 Free with full access to results and data filters No results access
Professional Member at Nonmember Institution Free results access without data filters No results access
Nonmembers Limited results access No results access

Example Screenshots

Informed Consent

By participating in the NIRSA Salary Census, participants grant NIRSA permission to use their data to update NIRSA member profiles, to produce reports and/or for other purposes not yet identified. Personal, identifiable information will not be shared or presented in any format. All data will be reported in the aggregate and no data will be shared with third party vendors.

NIRSA Custom Salary Benchmarking Reports

NIRSA Custom Salary Benchmarking Reports are intended for members who may need a specific analysis of data that’s not available in NIRSA’s On-Demand Salary Benchmarking platform or in the NIRSA Campus Recreation Salary Report.

For inquiries regarding NIRSA Custom Salary Benchmarking Reports contact nirsa.research@nirsa.org.

Member Class Price
Member institution $49.99
Non-Member institution $79.99
Member Class Participated in Census Did not participate in Census
Member institution $49.99 Not eligible
Non-Member institution $79.99 Not eligible
NIRSA Campus Recreation Salary Report

Sample pages

NIRSA Campus Recreation Salary Survey - Example Page 14
NIRSA Campus Recreation Salary Survey - Example Page 27
NIRSA Campus Recreation Salary Survey - Example Page 31

NIRSA Campus Recreation Salary Report

NIRSA’s biennial Campus Recreation Salary Report provides a comprehensive summary of compensation of the campus recreation profession.

The current Salary Report, which aggregates data from the years 2017 and 2018, may be purchased in the NIRSA online store.

NIRSA Members who participated in the NIRSA Salary Census from December 2017 to April 2019 are eligible to receive a significant discount. Participants at NIRSA Member Institutions receive the report for free.

Member Class Participated in Census Did not participate in Census
Member institution Free with coupon $49.99
Non-Member institution $19.99 (discounted with coupon) $149.99

For questions about the NIRSA Campus Recreation Salary Report or how to access it, please contact nirsa.research@nirsa.org.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have additional questions, please contact us.

The Salary Calculator has been re-envisioned within an online benchmarking platform. Recreation professionals can now enter their data online individually and do not need to be NIRSA members. NIRSA members at NIRSA member institutions will have access to the platform’s filtering capabilities.

Anyone in the collegiate recreation profession can participate. Participants do not have to be NIRSA members but must have a NIRSA online profile to access the platform and submit data. To create a NIRSA profile, click here. Please note that only NIRSA members will have access to results within the platform. If you are not a NIRSA member and wish to gain access to the Salary Census results, you can join the NIRSA membership here.

The NIRSA Salary census collects information on participant’s institutions, their position, salary and responsibilities as well as demographic information such as ethnicity, age, and educational background.

Participating NIRSA members will be able to see where they stand in regards to their peers and may inform their decisions about job offers. NIRSA member institutions will be able to evaluate the competitiveness of salaries prior to posting job openings. The Association will benefit in its ability to evaluate the potential needs of constituent groups within the profession and where to direct resources.

Participants can enter data at any point throughout the year. Data collection years will alternate with the NIRSA Institutional Data Set.

Yes, you must answer the questions pertaining to your salary to access results, but you are not required to answer questions pertaining to your institution. Institutional data are used to filter results and completing these is encouraged. Please check with your director to verify the accuracy of your institutional data.

All comments and questions should be directed to nirsa.research@nirsa.org.

For more information, please contact NIRSA Research.