A recent report from the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions underscores the dramatic increase in unionization across higher education—particularly in the private sector—among tenure- and non-tenure track faculty, postdoctoral and academic researchers, graduate student workers, and undergraduate student workers. The report details collective bargaining relationships at public and non-profit private institutions of higher education between 2012 and the start of calendar year 2024.

Overall, the report shows that the number of individuals represented by a union, as well as the number of bargaining units, has increased across the board for faculty, postdoctoral and academic researchers, graduate student workers, and undergraduate student workers.

• The total number of unionized faculty grew by 7.5% between 2012 and 2024, with represented faculty in the private sector growing by 56% since 2012.
• Over the past two decades, higher education has seen a steady growth in the number of separate bargaining units of postdoctoral scholars. As of the start of 2024, there were 10 postdoc bargaining units, four of which were at private universities, up from three bargaining units at public universities in 2012.
• Unionization of graduate student workers saw the most dramatic increase between 2012 and 2024—the total number of represented graduate students increasing by 133%, with 60% of this growth occurring in the private sector.
• As of January 2024, almost 40% of all graduate student workers nationwide are unionized.
• In 2012, there were 29 separate bargaining units of graduate student workers in higher education, with only one unit at a private, non-profit institution. According to the report, at the end of 2023, there were 81 bargaining units exclusively of graduate student workers, 37 of which were at private, non-profit institutions.
• Unionization of undergraduate student workers has also surged, with 17 new separate bargaining units of undergraduate students emerging at private universities between 2021 and 2023.

As highlighted in the report, the rapid growth in higher education unionization over the past decade is diametrically opposed to the broader national unionization trends during this same period. The nationwide rate of union representation, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, decreased to 11.2% in 2023 from 12.5% in 2012.

The report highlights that this boom has been driven by increased casualization of faculty roles, labor-friendly policies, and organizing efforts by unions on college campuses.