College President’s Earnings are High
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Del.icio.usAmid budget shortfalls and tuition increases, students and parent alike are finding is difficult to afford a college education. So it was surprising to many when a report came out on how much college presidents are making. USA Today is reporting that college presidents across the country are still making a lot of money despite the recession.
Presidents of 23 private, non-profit colleges and universities each earned more than $1 million in total compensation in 2007-08, and Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., tops the list at nearly $1.6 million, says a report published today in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The median salary for presidents of those 419 institutions was $358,746 in 2007-08, up 6.5% from the previous year, says the report, which did not include salaries of public university presidents.
The highest average earnings went to presidents of doctoral-granting research universities. Their total compensation averaged $627,750, up 15.5% from the previous year.
The report, conducted annually since 1993 and which this year covers a compensation period that ended June 30, 2008, shows continuing increases over the years. Chronicle editors say they expect next year’s report to show the impact of the economic downturn. Already, a number of presidents have taken pay cuts or seen their salaries frozen. Others have donated part of their earnings to the university for scholarships.
Presidents and trustees “are worried about how the public perceives a high salary at a time when budgets are being slashed and tuition continues to increase,” says Chronicle editor Jeffrey Selingo.
Tuition, fees, room and board at private institutions increased 4.3% on average this year, says a report out last month by the College Board. The one-year increase for those charges in 2007-08 — the year for which presidential compensation data was examined — was 5.9%.
This may be news to many, but college presidents have been earning high salaries for years. Just because the economy is bad, people who have been earning these salaries on a regular basis shouldn’t be expected to take a lower salary. Increases should cease however.
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Editor: Melissa Steele is a freelance writer and focuses her research on funding for higher education. She is a graduate of UNLV and endeavors to keep her readers up to date with the most relevant education information.