By Brian Lehane

 

It is no surprise that tuition rates in the U.S. are increasing significantly each year.  In fact, in the 2008-2009 academic year, yearly college tuition (including room and board) is increasing at a rate of 5.9% for private universities and 6.4% for public universities.  In the 2007-2008 academic year, the median compensation for a public university president rose 7.6%.  In a study recently released by the Chronicle of Higher Education, presidents are ranked by public and private status and how much annual compensation they receive each year.

 

Overall, the median public university president’s pay is up 7.6% to $427,400 (from $397,349 last year).  This 7.6% increase beats out inflation by 2.6 percentage points during that same time frame.  Further, in the 2006-2007 academic year, 43 presidents were paid more than $500,000 annually; this year, 59 presidents were paid more than $500,000.  In private universities, pay is up as well.  Private university data was unavailable for the past year, but in 2006-2007, the median salary increased 6.5%, beating inflation by 3.8 percentage points. University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann received a 40% increase last year bringing her pay to $1,088,786.

 

U-M football fans will be interested to know that the Buckeyes have topped the Wolverines yet again, this time the game being presidential pay.  The Ohio State University pays their president, E. Gordon Gee, a total of $1,346,225 annually, $775,000 in salary each year and the rest in deferred compensation and bonuses.  The University of Michigan pays Mary Sue Coleman a total of $760,196 annually. 

 

President	School	Total Compensation	Students	Pay per student
E. Gordon Gee	Ohio State University	$1,346,225	60,347	$22.31
Mark Emmert	U. Of Washington	$887,870	42,974	$20.66
John Casteen III	U. Of Virginia	$797,048	20,258	$39.34
Mark Yudof	U. Of Texas System	$786,045	141,134	$5.57
Mary Sue Coleman	U. Of Michigan System	$760,196	56,936	$13.35
M. Roy Wilson	U. Of Colorado-Denver	$740,415	15,891	$46.59
Robert Bruininks	U. Of Minnesota-Twin Cities	$733,421	50,402	$14.55
J. Bernard Machen	U. Of Florida	$731,811	52,270	$14.00
Michael Crow	Arizona State U.	$728,750	67,082	$10.86
Carl Patton	Georgia State U.	$727,487	27,134	$26.81

 

Interestingly, the highest paid university president in the U.S. is not even listed here.  The most highly compensated president of any United States university is David Sargent, president of Suffolk University (a private college in Boston). Mr. Sargent made almost $3 Million in 2007-2008 (base salary of $446,000, $1.2 Million for a “deferred sabbatical bonus,” and $556,000 in deferred compensation).  Sargent was given such a large “deferred sabbatical bonus” because, in his 52 years at Suffolk, he has never taken a sabbatical (so much for “use it or lose it” PTO programs), and according to university officials, Sargent’s pay package was meant to make up for “woefully inadequate” compensation in the past.

 

Other reasons university officials give for paying presidents such high wages are to retain the talented presidents or to attract new presidents to the university.  Ohio State officials were quoted in a board meeting, in a discussion about the high annual amount paid to Gee, as saying they believe that Gee is the “best and most experienced university president in the nation."

 

Sources:  Wall Street Journal Online, 11/17/2008, Chronicle for Higher Education,   CollegeBoard.com, Student numbers, Wikipedia.com