Database: View a searchable database of salaries and benefits for private-college presidents at 595 institutions, from 1998 to 2002
List: Browse information on salaries and benefits for public-college presidents at 131 institutions
Colloquy Live: Read the transcript of a live, online discussion about college presidents’ salaries.
Article: Hidden Costs of High Public Pay
Article: Soaring Pay, Big Questions
Article: Expense Compensation Adds to Some Presidents’ Pay
Article: Corporate-Level Compensation Raises Questions at Harvard
Opinion: Negotiating Your Contract: Lessons From the Front
Opinion: Presidential Pay From the Board’s Point of View
List: Public University Presidents With the Highest Compensation, 2003-4
List: Private University Presidents With the Highest Compensation, 2003-4
Chart: Presidents in Top Pay Brackets
Table: Leaders in Total Compensation, 2001-2
Chart: Private-College Presidents’ Median Compensation, 1997-2002
Chart: Increases in Faculty Salaries Compared With Presidential CompensationBy JULIANNE BASINGER
The day of the million-dollar college president is drawing near, and by one reckoning, may have arrived.
Four presidents of private universities earned more than $800,000 in the 2002 fiscal year. If their pay for serving on corporate boards is added to that university compensation, three of those leaders already earn more than $1-million annually.
Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, received $891,400 in pay and benefits. In addition, she earned as much as $591,000 for serving on the boards of eight corporations.
While pay for public-university presidents still has not reached those heights, the compensation of the highest-paid leaders of public colleges rivals that of the top-earning leaders of private institutions. Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University of Michigan, is the highest-paid president of a public university in 2003-4, earning $677,500 in pay and benefits. She also receives at least $100,000 in annual pay for membership on two corporate boards.
The number of public-university presidents earning $500,000 or more annually has doubled this year. Twelve leaders of public institutions will earn that much in 2003-4, compared with six last year. Among private universities, 27 presidents commanded compensation of a half-million dollars or more in the 2002 fiscal year, the latest year for which figures are available. Until 2000, no more than a dozen presidents of private colleges made that much money in any given year. At both public and private institutions, most of the highest-paid presidents lead doctoral universities, where search-firm consultants say the competition for qualified leaders is fierce.
For the first time this year, The Chronicle has surveyed private, nonprofit investment-management companies and health-care systems, as well as main teaching hospitals affiliated with medical schools. That survey yielded the highest-paid person in academe: David R. Mittelman, a senior vice president of Harvard Management Company, who earned $17.5-million for overseeing Harvard University’s fixed-income investments.
But as colleges have faced the effects of an economic recession by raising tuition, slashing academic programs, and cutting faculty and staff positions, the soaring compensation of college presidents, particularly at public institutions, has drawn increasing scrutiny, and sometimes criticism.
“It’s not going to be good for higher education if it becomes seen, at a time when tuition is going up, that college presidencies have become a new route to being a millionaire,” says Patrick M. Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, in San Jose, Calif.
Even so, The Chronicle’s annual surveys of the compensation of public- and private-college leaders show that presidents have not been bashful about accepting raises, nor have boards stopped handing them out.
LEADERS IN TOTAL COMPENSATION, 2001-2 |
All Institutions (All From Doctoral/Research Universities) |
Shirley Ann Jackson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute1 | $891,400 |
Gordon Gee, Vanderbilt U.2 | $852,023 |
Judith Rodin, U. of Pennsylvania3 | $845,474 |
Arnold J. Levine, Rockefeller U.*4 | $844,600 |
William R. Brody, Johns Hopkins U. | $772,276 |
Michael R. Ferrari, Texas Christian U. | $667,901 |
Steven B. Sample, U. of Southern California5 | $656,420 |
Jon Westling, Boston U. | $656,098 |
Richard C. Levin, Yale U. | $654,452 |
Constantine N. Papadakis, Drexel U.6 | $650,886 |
1 Ms. Jackson’s benefits include deferred compensation accrued over three years. |
2 Mr. Gee’s pay includes $166,320 in deferred compensation. |
3 Ms. Rodin’s benefits include $166,640 in deferred compensation for which she was not yet vested. |
4 Mr. Levine stepped down as president in February 2002. |
5 Mr. Sample’s pay includes $30,000 in deferred compensation. |
6 Mr. Papadakis’s benefits include the imputed value of two life-insurance policies. |
Master’s Institutions |
Theodore L. Gross, Roosevelt U. | $610,029 |
I. King Jordan, Gallaudet U. | $571,184 |
Donald E. Ross, Lynn U. | $517,036 |
Joseph G. Morone, Bentley College1 | $483,768 |
John L. Lahey, Quinnipiac U. | $471,000 |
John R. Brazil, Trinity U. (Tex.) | $442,835 |
Peggy A. Stock, Westminster College (Utah)* | $442,834 |
David J. Steinberg, Long Island U. | $430,313 |
John A. Yena, Johnson & Wales U.2 | $425,452 |
William E. Cooper, U. of Richmond | $406,864 |
1 Mr. Morone’s pay includes $71,468 for a bonus and tuition remission, and his benefits include $50,250 in deferred compensation. |
2 Mr. Yena’s benefits include $20,000 in deferred compensation. |
Liberal-Arts Colleges |
Russell K. Osgood, Grinnell College | $480,009 |
Larry P. Arnn, Hillsdale College | $464,043 |
Nancy S. Dye, Oberlin College | $448,790 |
Morton Owen Schapiro, Williams College | $391,495 |
Tom Gerety, Amherst College* | $384,946 |
Axel Steuer, Gustavus Adolphus College* 1 | $379,205 |
Douglas J. Bennet, Wesleyan U. (Conn.) | $364,840 |
Neal R. Berte, Birmingham-Southern College | $357,335 |
Eugene M. Tobin, Hamilton College (N.Y.)* | $346,356 |
Leon Botstein, Bard College | $344,300 |
1 Mr. Steuer stepped down as president in May 2002. |
* No longer at the institution |
NOTE: Monetary figures in each list represent salary, benefits, and deferred compensation. |
SOURCE: Chronicle reporting |
PRIVATE-UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS WITH THE HIGHEST ANNUAL COMPENSATION, 2001-2
Shirley Ann Jackson Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Total annual university compensation, 2001-2$891,400
- $490,000 in salary
- $401,400 in benefits and in performance-based deferred compensation that will accrue over three years
University perquisites
- $39,915 in compensation for expenses, including housing and car allowances
- Use of a house
Annual compensation from corporate sources
- As much as $591,000 in annual pay for membership on the boards of Albany Molecular Research Inc., AT&T Corporation, FedEx Corporation, Marathon Oil Corporation, Medtronic Inc., Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., Sealed Air Corporation, and United States Steel Corporation
- Stock options and shares in the companies on whose boards she serves
Gordon Gee
Vanderbilt University
Total annual university compensation, 2001-2$852,023
- $720,720 in salary, including $166,320 in performance bonuses
- $131,303 in benefits
University perquisites
- $62,239 in compensation for expenses, including travel for his wife and housing and car allowances
- Use of a house
Annual compensation from corporate sources
- As much as $241,000 in annual pay for membership on the boards of Allmerica Financial Corporation, Dollar General Corporation, Hasbro Inc., The Limited Inc., and Massey Energy Company
- Stock options and shares in the companies on whose boards he serves
Judith Rodin
University of Pennsylvania
Total annual university compensation, 2001-2$845,474
- $580,357 in salary and a performance bonus
- $265,117 in benefits, including $166,640 in deferred compensation, for which she is not yet vested
University perquisites
- $47,700 in compensation for expenses, including housing and car allowances
- Use of a house
- $250,000 loan, at 3-percent interest, made in 1997; no repayments made to date; full repayment due in 2004
Annual compensation from corporate sources
- As much as $233,100 in annual pay for membership on the boards of Aetna Inc., AMR Corporation, BlackRock Funds, and Electronic Data Systems Corporation
- $49,784 in travel on American Airlines, which is owned by AMR Corporation
- Stock options and shares in the companies on whose boards she serves
SOURCES: Universities’ federal-tax filings; corporate reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; Chronicle reporting
PUBLIC-UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS WITH THE HIGHEST COMPENSATION, 2003-4
Mary Sue ColemanUniversity of Michigan system
Total annual university compensation: $677,500
Public contribution:
- $475,000 salary
- $100,000 annual bonus if she completes her five-year contract in 2007
- $75,000 deferred compensation
- $27,500 supplemental retirement pay
- Use of a house and car
Annual compensation from corporate sources
- At least $100,000 in annual pay for membership on the boards of Johnson & Johnson and Meredith Corporation
- Stock options and shares in the companies on whose boards she serves
Mark G. YudofUniversity of Texas System
Total annual university compensation: $642,052
Public contribution:
- $70,231 salary
- Use of a house
Private contribution:
- $397,769 salary
- $150,000 deferred compensation
- $15,652 in supplemental life insurance
- $8,400 car allowance
Annual compensation from corporate sources
David P. Roselle
University of Delaware
Total annual university compensation (2001)*: $630,654
Public contribution:
- $430,638 salary
- $200,016 in benefits, including retirement annuities and deferred compensation
- Use of a house and car
Annual compensation from corporate sources
- As much as $31,400 in annual pay for membership on the board of Wilmington Trust Corporation, as well as stock options and shares
- An undisclosed amount of annual pay for membership on the board of VTLS Inc., a privately-held company
* Because the University of Delaware considers itself a quasi-public institution and does not disclose current compensation data, figures for Mr. Roselle were obtained from the university’s federal-tax filings for the 2002 fiscal year, the most recent available, and show his income for the 2001 calendar year.
SOURCES: Corporate reports to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; the University of Delaware’s federal-tax filings; Chronicle reporting
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Section: Special Report
Volume 50, Issue 12, Page S1