New data from the American Association of University Professors shows average full-time faculty salaries fell 0.4% in real terms between fall 2024 and fall 2025, marking the first inflation-adjusted decline in three years. Continuing faculty saw a smaller real increase of 0.7%, but the overall results underscore a broader catch-up gap after a cumulative 7.5% real-dollar drop between 2019 and 2022.