Rough financial seas had been buffeting many colleges and universities for years before the recession that began in late 2007. Then in mid-September 2008, an economic tsunami crashed into campuses, challenging their ability to provide the accessible, high-quality education necessary to achieve long-term national goals. As the economy weakened at the end of 2008 and into 2009, college and university presidents, business officers, admissions deans, financial aid directors, faculty, staff, students, and parents wondered whether higher education would find a refuge from the worst of the storm, as it had in prior recessions. This year's report reveals tremendous differences in the nature of budgetary woes across institutions. The average salary for a full-time faculty member was only 1.2 percent higher in 2009-10 than in the previous academic year, the lowest year-to-year change recorded in the fifty years of this comprehensive annual survey. This survey is limited to faculty members who are currently employed full time, and the data available are aggregates by academic rank and gender. Appendices include: (1) State tables; and (2) Tables representing institutions without academic ranks. (Contains 20 tables, 2 figures, 17 notes, and 180 notes to appendices.) [For the "The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2008-09," see ED504909.]