Employee Compensation FAQs FY2025-2026

General Questions

The FY 2025-26 budget includes:

  • July 1, 2025: Effective 7/1/25, a 2.5% across-the-board (ATB) increase for classified staff in alignment with the State of Colorado
  • August 2025: A 4% across-the-board increase to the standard campus rate for graduate students on appointment is effective August 2025.
  • January 1, 2026: Effective 1/1/2026, a 4% compensation increase pool for eligible university staff and faculty, and research faculty. It will be distributed as 4% across-the-board (ATB) for university staff and a 4% merit pool for faculty and research faculty (based on enrollment and revenue projections).
  • January 1, 2026: Effective 1/1/2026, a 4% across-the-board increase for temporary faculty contract by course rates requiring adjustment.

Units, colleges, and schools must have an approved employeerecognition programto provide pay increases or bonuses outside of regular campus processes

University Staff

The 4% compensation pool for university staff for 1/1/2026 will be an across-the-board (ATB) increase of 4% for employees rated as meeting expectations (3 rating) or above, in the 2024-25 performance evaluation cycle.

  • Addressing compensation to remain competitive in the market is a priority for our campus, and we are taking a holistic, strategic, multi-year approach to these needs across all employee types to address market volatility during the COVID years, during which we lost ground.
  • As campus finance and HR leaders have analyzed different approaches to the 4% increase pool, applying one pool of 4% across the board for university staff has the greatest impact and is the best way to advance staff compensation via pay range progression. Please view the Compensation Glossary.

  • This approach:

    • Ensures eligible university staff employees benefit meaningfully from this year’s pool, as it results in a larger across-the-board increase for eligible university staff employees than originally communicated.

    • Strengthens market competitiveness and reduces the risk of falling behind external salary trends.

    • Supports movement through pay ranges for eligible university staff.

To be eligible for the 4% ATB increase effective 1/1/2026, university staff employees must meet the following criteria: 

  • Be in an active, regular (not temporary or working retiree) university staff appointment on the effective date (January 1)
  •    have a completed performance evaluation for the most recent performance cycle with a rating of meeting expectations or higher (3, 4, or 5)
  •  OR  new hires effective on or before September 1 who were not eligible to participate in the most recent performance evaluation cycle must be meeting expectations in the role as confirmed by the hiring unit during the HR roster review process 
  •   current employees with a transfer, promotion, or base pay increase effective on or before November 15 will remain eligible for an increase on January 1, if the above criteria are also met, unless specified otherwise in the terms of an offer letter, MOU, or addendum.
  • New employees hired after September 1 are not eligible.
  • Current employees with a transfer, promotion or base pay increase effective after November 15, will not be eligible for the January 1 increase. Hiring units should plan the new salary for these appointments accordingly. Units should work with their PMC consultant on the timing of any occupied staff position changes.
  • Temporary appointments (including working retirees) and limited term appointments of 12 months or less are not eligible.
  • Employees with a performance rating below meeting expectations (1 or 2 rating) are not eligible for the January 1 increase.

“ATB” is the abbreviation used for “across-the-board”. This means the same rate (4%) applies to all eligible employees who are meeting performance expectations.

An increase that raises an employee’s continuing/ongoing salary is considered a “base-building” pay increase. A non-base building pay increase is temporary and has an end date.

Newly hired employees within the past four months should have already been hired at current market rates and are eligible for increases in future cycles, but not immediately after hire.

  • Although different systems, classified staff and university staff jobs still have many similarities, more so than with faculty, and alignment between university staff and classified staff is desirable when possible. The state of Colorado is implementing an ATB increase for classified staff for the next two years.
  • ǰ Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, substantially similar positions need to be treated consistently with regard to pay.  For university staff, substantially similar jobs exist across campus departments, colleges and schools, so a campus-wide consistent approach is required.  For faculty, substantially similar work is discipline-based which tends to exist within a department or within a research project.  This allows pay practices for faculty to be managed at the unit level, which is not the case for university staff.  A consistent campus-wide approach for performance management for university staff is under review so that a performance-based process can be utilized more effectively again in the future once this work is completed. 
  • Classified staff pay increases follow a different cycle that aligns with State of Colorado personnel system laws and rules and the State of Colorado with the employee organization. Classified staff typically receive pay increases on July 1 of each year (instead of January 1 for non-classified employees) when approved by the Colorado Legislature.
  • Refer to the  to learn more about these two different staff personnel systems.

Eligible employees will receive the increase in their January 2026 paychecks, which will be issued at the end of the month.

Eligible employees will receive a salary increase notification email during the fourth week of January. The email notification template will be provided in advance to each college, school, and division HR leader in advance for reference. Units may communicate their own messages of thanks or any other unit specific considerations in advance or as a follow-up to the centrally sent notifications.

Faculty, including Research Faculty

The 4% compensation pool for faculty and research faculty for 1/1/2026 will be a merit exercise influenced by performance rating and allocated by the unit based on their current salary procedures.

To be eligible for a faculty merit increase effective 1/1/2026, employees must meet the following criteria: 

  • Be in an active, regular research faculty or regular faculty appointment on the effective date (January 1) AND
  • Have a completed performance evaluation for the most recent performance cycle with a rating of meeting expectations or higher (3, 4, or 5) OR
  • New hires effective on or before September 1 who were not eligible to participate in the most recent performance evaluation cycle must have a performance plan in place if required by applicable campus guidelines and will be assigned either a “Meeting Expectations” rating or NMS (No Merit Score) by the hiring unit. Assigning NMS means the employee will be ineligible for a merit increase effective January 1.
  • Employees transferring or receiving a base compensation increase effective on or before November 15 will remain eligible for a merit increase January 1, if the above criteria are also met, unless specified otherwise in the terms of an offer letter, MOU, or addendum. 
  • New employees hired after September 1 are not eligible. 
  • Current employees with a transfer or base compensation increase effective after November 15 will not be eligible. for the January 1 increase. Hiring units should plan the new salary for these appointments accordingly. 
  • Employees with a performance rating below meeting expectations (1 or 2 rating) are not eligible for the January 1 increase. 
  • Temporary and working retiree employees, research affiliates, visiting researchers, and postdoctoral fellows are also not eligible.

The following faculty employees with an active appointment as of September 1 are eligible: 

  • Tenured and Tenure-Track faculty 
  • Teaching faculty on multi-year contracts
  • Institute Directors
  • Scholars-in-Residence (appointment more than 12 months)
  • Artists-in-Residence (appointment more than 12 months)
  • Research faculty (PRAs, Research Associates, Postdoctoral Associates, and Research Professors)
  • Faculty in administrative appointments (tied to base salary as outlined in a letter of offer)
  • Temporary faculty (see temporary faculty section)
  • Working retirees
  • Temporary and visiting researchers
  • Research affiliates
  • Postdoctoral fellows (job codes 1438 and 3201)
  • Graduate student faculty (see Graduate Assistantships section)

Annual salary adjustments for faculty are merit-based and support current employees' salaries remaining competitive. Newly hired employees are eligible for merit increases in future cycles but not immediately after hire.

  • ǰ Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, substantially similar positions need to be treated consistently with regard to pay.  For university staff, substantially similar jobs exist across campus departments, colleges and schools, so a campus-wide consistent approach is required. 
  • For faculty, substantially similar work is discipline-based, which tends to exist within a department or within a research project.  This allows pay practices for faculty to be managed at the unit level, which is not the case for university staff.  A consistent campus-wide approach for performance management for university staff is under review so that a performance-based process can be utilized more effectively again in the future once this work is completed. 

Eligible employees will see these changes in their January 2026  end-of-month paychecks.

Eligible employees will receive a salary increase notification email during the fourth week of January. Units may communicate their own messages of thanks or any other unit-specific considerations in advance or as a follow-up to the centrally sent notifications.

Classified Staff

All classified staff employees with an active appointment as of 6/30/25are eligible to receive a 2.5% base pay increase effective 7/1/25unless limited by the maximum of the pay range. This increase does not apply to new hires starting 7/1/25or later.

“ATB” is the abbreviation used for “across-the-board”. This means the same rate (2.5%) applies to all eligible classified employees unless limited by the maximum of the pay range.

  1. The 2.5% increase is applied to the classified employee’s base pay rate as of 6/30/25and before any other July 1 pay changes.
  2. The classified 2.5% ATB is base-building up to the FY25-26 pay range maximum for the employee’s job classification. Any amount over the pay range maximum is annualized and paid as a one-time lump sum in the employee’s end of July paycheck.
  3. If the employee’s salary is below the campus starting rate of $18.90 per hour after the 2.5% across-the-board increase is applied, the employee'ssalary will be raised to the new campus starting rate of $18.90 per hour.
  4. If the employee’s salary is below the FY25-26 pay range minimum for the employee’s job classification after the 2.5% across-the-board increase and campus starting rate adjustments are applied, the employee’s salary will be raised to the FY25-26pay range minimum.
  • The State of Colorado is continuing with the Step Pay Program, as outlined in the 2022 Amended Partnership Agreement in COWINS Article 31.6, which provides base salary increases to eligible State classified employees at certain milestone years.On July 1, 2025, eligible classified employees will receivethe2.5% across-the-board (ATB) increase, then may receive an increase to the step pay rate for their July 1 job pay range based on total completed years in their current job series as of June 30, 2025.
  • Please review theweb page for more information.
  • The final July 1 pay rate for classified employees is rounded to the nearest whole dollar if full-time and to two decimal places if part-time.
  •   are available from the Colorado Department of Personnel & Administration (DPA).

An increase that raises an employee’s continuing/ongoing salary is considered a “base-building” pay increase. A non-base building pay increase is temporary and has an end date. This year’s 2.5% ATB increasefor classified employees is base-building up to the pay range maximum.

  • Classified staff and non-classified staff (university staff, faculty, students, etc.) aredifferent personnel systemswith different laws and policies that govern them.
  • Classified staff positions are part of the State of Colorado personnel system and governed by anegotiated between the State and the classified staff union,.
  • Requirements for setting pay for classified employees are set by the state legislature, the, and the Partnership Agreement.
  • University staff, faculty, and student positions meet the criteria under state law to beexemptedfrom the Colorado personnel system. As such, these positions are not classified staff and are not subject to the state of Colorado rules, procedures or Partnership Agreements that govern classified positions.
  • This year’s 2.5% ATB increase for classified employees was approved by the Colorado Legislature in the 2025-26Long Bill, and this does not apply to university staff, faculty, students, or other CU employee populations.

The Colorado General Assembly, based on recommendations from the Colorado Department of Personnel & Administration (DPA), determines each year whether to provide increases to classified staff salaries and/or benefits, how much those increases should be, and how they should be implemented. The final decision differs year to year based on many factors, including how classified employees’ salaries or benefits statewide are aligning with market factors. Some years the state approves increases based on a performance matrix. In other years the state approves flat, cost-of-living type increases, across-the-board regardless of performance. This year, through the Partnership Agreement with COWINS, the state of Colorado approved a flat across-the-board increase, and CU is implementing the state of Colorado’s decision for its classified employees.

Updatedare available from the Colorado Department of Personnel & Administration.

Temporary faculty & graduate assistantships

A base-building, 4% across-the-board increase for temporary faculty contract by course rates requiring adjustment will be effective January 2026. A 4% across-the-board increase to the standard campus rate for graduate students on appointment (in eligible job codes) is effective August 2025. Any stipend increases for graduate students in those programs will be determined at the departmental level with the approval of the Graduate School

Contract by course faculty compensation schedules will be reviewed by units and adjusted as needed by 4% effective January 2026.

Eligible employees include temporary faculty who have an active appointment for the spring 2026 semester in the following jobs:

  • Lecturer
  • Teaching faculty (on a less than one-year, 12-month appointment)
  • Scholars-in-Residence (on a less than one-year, 12-month appointment)
  • Artists-in-Residence (on a less than one-year, 12-month appointment)
  • Visiting faculty (on a less than one-year, 12-month appointment)
  • Faculty Fellow (excluding administrative appointments)
  • The 4% across-the-board compensation update will go into effect with the start of the academic year 25-26. Graduate students on appointment will not be receiving a 4% increase in January 2026.
  • For information regarding graduate students on assistantship appointments, please see the Graduate School website for more details.

Graduate students on assistantship appointment in job codes 1502, 1503, 1505, & 1506.

Each department shall communicate the new temporary faculty contract rates and graduate student compensation directly with eligible employees in their respective areas following their usual notification processes.

Campus Minimum Wage

Effective 7/1/2025, the starting rate at ñ will increase from $18 per hour to $18.90 per hour for classified staff and university staff. Effective 7/6/2025, the starting rate at ñ will increase from $16 per hour to $16.82 per hour for student assistants This move will allow the campus to make a vital investment in the stability of our workforce - stability that results in a more enriched and impactful student experience and that makes ñ a more competitive employer.

The campus starting rate will increase to $18.90 per hour for staff on 7/1/2025 and to $16.82 per hour for student assistants effective July 6, 2025.

This is a university and campus initiative. While this is not related to a state or federal requirement right now, it will prepare the university well for any future changes that might come at the state or federal levels.

The new campus starting rate levels apply to all classified staff, university staff and student assistant employees of the campus.

Entry pay levels for faculty and graduate students on appointment are reviewed and updated by the campus on a regular basis to remain competitive with market forces, similar to the process for staff and students. For positions funded by gifts and grants, such as for research faculty, hiring units should include an $18.90 per hour starting rate through their annual funding and budget review processes.

Campus funds will be allocated to budget model support units for general fund regular salaried staff and general fund students paid hourly. Schools and colleges receive the estimated general fund starting rate in July with their initial continuing budget. Other categories of employees will be funded by the hiring unit.

  • By the end of July 2025, regular staff employees will receive notifications outlining their final July pay rate and how it was determined.
  • Department HR Liaisons are responsible for notifying temporary and student employees of their new pay rates.

No, since this is a University initiative, the starting rate applies to all eligible positions.

  • No, as with other starting rate increases, Employee Services will automatically increase the pay rate in HCM for any positions below the new starting rate.
  • Additionally, campus HR will partner with Employee Services to upload all campus-wide pay increases effective July 1. Departments do not need to make these entries.
  • For student assistants, if departments wish to increase the pay above the new starting rate, they will be responsible for making those adjustments.
  • No, pay rates for new or active job postings in Avature (ñ Jobs) will be updated as needed by the Human Resources (HR) Talent Acquisition (TA) team.
  • Job postings maintained on sites outside of Avature (ñ Jobs) will need to be updated by the hiring unit unless you are already working with the HR TA team.

No, not at this time. Departments may follow up with HR to review options for any specific impacts if needed.

HR & Payroll Questions

  • Budget and Fiscal Planning, Human Resources and the Provost’s Office will coordinate these compensation increases and will work with System Employee Services to upload the new pay rates to HCM. HR Liaisons will be able to review compensation and confirm payroll after updates are entered into HCM.
  • HR Liaisons should avoid making personnel actions effective or entering pay rate changes in HCM during the salary upload review and entry process (June 19-30 for July 1 increases). Entries and corrections can be made after the July 1 salary increase rows have been loaded to HCM.

Allocations for general fund employees are provided through the budget model design parameters. Departments with employees funded by other sources will need to self-fund the increases for those employees.

Division, college, and school HR leaders will review their employees scheduled to receive an increase in the campus budget tool. The timing and process for review depend on the type of employee increase.

An overview of the merit exercise process and timeline is updated annually and communicated by email with additional instructions to each college, school, and division. For research faculty, see the Research Faculty Performance web page. 

Continuing Budget Calculations

Under the budget model, funding has already been allocated to schools/colleges for their merit pool. Merit and other general compensation changes will be funded by unit funds, as all tuition revenue is distributed in the model. Summaries will be provided by BFP to each school/college to show the calculated merit increases for the General Fund.

  • Faculty: The merit pool will be calculated based on ending FY25 GF continuing budget for faculty. This pool will be allocated to the unit for faculty merit allocations. 
  • University Staff: The HR university staff roster will be used to determine the funding source(s) for each staff position in a support unit. Departments will review their roster utilizing the campus budget tool to determine whether General Fund funding is from the continuing budget or temporary budget. The final General Fund continuing budget will be applied to the merit increase amount provided by HR.
  • Classified Staff: General fund classified salary and benefit budget is allocated on August business per the amount prepared by HR.  
  • Calculation: General Fund FTE per rosters * HR provided merit amount = General Fund Budget University Staff Salary Allocation.
  • The associated general fund benefits will be allocated at the corresponding fringe benefit rate to the benefit budget account code.

Schools and colleges receive a total revenue allocation each fiscal year through the budget model, which includes the estimated expenditure impact the merit pool. Merit and other general compensation changes funded through that revenue allocation, and no additional funding is provided to schools/colleges. Summaries will be provided by BFP to each school/college to show the calculated merit increases for the General Fund.

For support units, the continuing budget for merit salary plus benefits for general fund employees will be transferred to the allocation speedtype in January 2026. Half of that will be pulled back as temporary budget reduction simultaneously.

Central campus will allocate the associated benefits budget for all general fund continuing salary increase allocations at the fringe benefit rate to support units. You can find fringe rate details here.

No, the department will need to identify funding for the merit increases for those employees not funded from continuing General Fund budget.