Growth rates at other Utah institutions were slightly lower than national averages, with the University of Utah posting an overall 2.5 percent salary increase for the 2005-2006 academic year. At $97,900, the university's average salaries for professors were competitive with a national $101,600 average for public doctoral universities.

But Paul Brinkman, the university's associate vice president of budgeting, said that's simply not enough to compete for qualified professors.

Brinkman said the university is competing with the upper echelon of doctoral institutions that have advanced research programs. When compared with those research-heavy schools, Brinkman said, the university's professorial salaries are falling behind.

"We don't want our best people to be actively looking," Brinkman said. "If they are, we're going to lose them. Sometimes we'll scramble around and try and find other resources to keep them here, but sometimes we can't."

The competition for professors is particularly fierce in fields like accounting and finance, because the university has to vie for professors not only with other colleges, but also with Wall Street, he added.

Education leaders in Utah have watched the state's lagging faculty salaries for some time, asking the Legislature earlier this year to come up with $5 million for retention funds for key faculty and staff. While that request didn't make the budget, universities did get a 3.5 percent salary increase for all employees.

But Utah colleges still have a long way to go. According to estimates by the Utah System of Higher Education, Utah institutions have about a $23 million gap between their professors' pay and what other state systems are offering.

At the University of Utah, 947 out of 2,573 state-funded faculty members earn below 90 percent of the national average, an average shortfall of about $9,000 per employee. In all, the university would need about $8.6 million to bring its salaries in line with national averages, according to the state higher education system.

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