The pool for faculty and staff salary increases will be 2.7% in fiscal year 2027, interim President Henry Bienen announced in a financial update Wednesday. 

The University plans to spend $50 million more on compensation and benefits in fiscal year 2027 compared to the previous year, according to Bienen’s statement. Individual schools and units will determine how to distribute the increases. 

Bienen wrote that he recognized the salary pool was “smaller than some were hoping for.” The announcement followed a fiscal year in which faculty and staff did not receive raises.

“Northwestern’s finances have stabilized following the resolution agreement with the federal government, but we continue to manage challenges to our budget that are playing out at institutions across the country, and likely will continue in the years to come,” Bienen wrote.

Bienen wrote that despite a growth in the University’s endowment and the end of the freeze on federal research grants, expense pressures from “information security, campus safety, rising energy costs and compliance requirements” persist.

In January, the University announced it would make faculty and staff raises a “top institutional priority” for the coming fiscal year in its 2026 Annual Financial Update. 

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect who did not receive raises in the past year. A previous version of this story’s headline also incorrectly stated the nature of the  salary increases. The Daily regrets this error.

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