University of Colorado faculty on a contract have the option to choose to update their contract payment schedule for the 2025-26 academic year between May 1 and July 11.

Faculty members have until 5 p.m. MT July 11 to select their new schedule in the employee portal by following this guide [3]. Those who don’t submit a contract payment schedule election will default to the pay schedule they had for the 2024-25 academic year.

Note: Once faculty have chosen their payment schedule, they may not revoke or change their schedule for the academic year.

Two payment schedules are available

Faculty academic year pay schedule (August – May): 

This pay schedule follows the regular academic year, paying out the total contract amount over the 9 months that comprise the fall and spring semesters. Under this pay schedule, contract salary payments will be issued Aug. 31, 2025, to May 31, 2026.

Faculty 12-month pay schedule:

Some faculty choose to have their contract pay distributed in smaller payments over a full 12 months. Under this pay schedule, contract salaries will be paid from August 2025 through August 2026.

Note: Faculty may elect this option only if they do not exceed the IRS’s maximum deferred compensation limit in 2025. Please refer to the employee portal or faculty election page [4] for additional information. More information can also be found in the IRS’s 2025 General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 [5] on page 12 under the heading “Nonqualified deferred compensation plans.”

Find resources to help you choose

• Visit the Employee Services contracts webpage [6] to learn how to choose a contract type.
• The contract proration calculator [7] can help faculty to determine whether combined their 9-pay-12 contract exceeds IRS limits and how it will be distributed over a 12-month period.
• IRS deferred compensation guidelines [8] will walk faculty through the tax implications of selecting a 9-pay-12 contract.
• This quick reference guide [9] will show faculty members how to select their contracts in the employee portal.