WASHINGTON, DC - Nov. 2, 2009 - Presidents at private colleges and universities sawtheir median pay increase by 6.5 percent to $358,746, according to results of TheChronicle of Higher Education’s annual executive compensation survey, publishedtoday. For one subset of the 419 institutions surveyed-the major private researchuniversities-median pay was 15.5 percent higher in 2007-8 ($627,750).
Twenty-three college presidents on that list made over $1-million in total compensation,and one in four of all those in the survey were over the half million mark. New this yearis The Chronicle of Higher Education’s analysis of “former officer" pay as reported onfederal tax forms: 85 of these institutions (20%) were paying at least one former officeror key employee more than $200,000 in compensation in 2007-2008, several with asmany as four still drawing pay checks.
The Chronicle of Higher Education’s analysis of federal tax documents covers the 2007-8fiscal year, the most recent data available. Note that since then, college campuses havebeen hit hard by the current fiscal crisis and salary increases have leveled off, with somepresidents even taking pay cuts this year, which are not reflected in this analysis. [NOTEthat The Chronicle of Higher Education’s annual look at executive compensation ofpublic universities is slated for publication in January 2010.]
“While the pay of private-college presidents continues to increase, our reporting showsthat the economy is clearly having an impact on their paycheck," said Jeffrey J. Selingo,editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education, which first published the executivecompensation survey in 1989, and has done so annually since 1993. “Presidents aregiving back some of their pay or trustees are freezing salaries. Both groups are worriedabout how the public perceives a high salary at a time when budgets are being slashedand tuition continues to increase. In fact, 58 private colleges now charge more than$50,000 a year in tuition, room, board, and fees, compared to only five last year."
Highest paid college and university presidents The highest compensated private university executive was Shirley Ann Jackson,Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., whose package totaled $1,598,247 infiscal year 2008. Next on the list after her were: David J. Sargent of Suffolk Universityin Boston, who held the top spot for fiscal year 2007 and took in $1,496,593 this pastyear; Steadman Upham of the University of Tulsa took third place with $1,485,275.Highest paid former officers
Three private institutions paid a “former officer" more than $1 million in 2007-8:George Washington University’s former president Stephen J. Trachtenberg got apackage totaling $3,664,569; Oberlin College paid former president Nancy S. Dye$1,460,420; and Emory University’s Michael M.E. Johns received $1,006,188. Theremaining seven former officers on the top 10 list all were paid well over $600,000 in2007-8.
