Survey: College president pay rose 7.6% at public schools

Public universities raised their presidents' pay packages an average 7.6 percent last year, outpacing increases for private school leaders and provoking fresh criticism that hard times have bypassed the ivory towers.

Presidents of public research universities were paid a median of $427,400, up from $397,349 the previous academic year, led by Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee's $1.35 million, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education's annual survey of 847 U.S. public and private school and community colleges, released today.

Fifteen public universities paid their presidents more than $700,000, up from eight a year earlier, while tuition at public universities outpaced inflation that year by 3.8 percent. At private schools, a dozen presidents were paid more than $1 million in 2006-07, led by David Sargent of Suffolk University in Boston, who received $2.8 million. Tuition at private schools increased an average 6.3 percent that school year, according to the College Board.

``The Chronicle's study shows that the executive suite seems insulated from budget crunches,'' Senator Charles E. Grassley, a Republican from Iowa who has led hearings on tuition costs, said in a statement. ``While endowment values and payouts for financial aid may be decreasing, there's still money for the president's salary increase.''

The Chronicle, a trade publication, used public records to determine pay packages at state-run institutions in 2007-08. For private-school leaders, the survey used Internal Revenue Service documents submitted for the 2006-07 year, the most recent.

Economic Crisis

The pay increases were awarded before the economic crisis reduced state contributions to public schools and whittled the values of endowments at private colleges. In recent weeks, universities across the country such as Stanford University near Palo Alto, California, Cornell University of Ithaca, New York, and the University of Georgia in Athens announced they'll cut spending and delay hiring.

Gee's compensation at Ohio State, in Columbus, includes the use of a house and car. He also collected more than $600,000 in cash and stock from his participation on four corporate boards, the Chronicle said. Following Gee among public university presidents were Mark A. Emmert, president of the University of Washington in Seattle, with $887,870; and John T. Casteen III at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, with $797,048.

Mark Yudof was fourth with $786,045 from the University of Texas system, based in Austin, which he ran before leaving in June to head the University of California system. Fifth was Mary Sue Coleman of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, with $760,196.

$2.45 Million Sendoff

David P. Roselle, who stepped down as president of the University of Delaware in June 2007, was paid $2.45 million, which includes compensation related to his departure.

The survey included 152 public universities that have at least 10,000 students and are classified as research institutions, as well as the state university systems.

Gee also is second on the list of highest-compensated private school presidents because he was paid $2.07 million at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where he was president before leaving for Ohio State in August 2007.

Henry S. Bienen at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, was third, with $1.74 million. Lee Bollinger at Columbia University in New York was fourth and the highest paid president among the eight private Ivy League schools, with $1.41 million. Shirley Ann Jackson at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, who received $1.33 million, was the fifth best-paid president.

Ivy League

At other Ivy League institutions: Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania, $1.09 million; Richard C. Levin Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, $955,407; Ruth J. Simmons, Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, $775,718; Shirley M. Tilghman, Princeton University in New Jersey, $742,444; David J. Skorton, Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, $730,604; and James E. Wright, Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, $569,761.

Drew Gilpin Faust, president of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was hired in July 2007 and wasn't included in the survey.

The median compensation for presidents of private research universities was $527,172, a decrease of less than 1 percent from 2005-06. At private institutions that offer masters degrees, the median was $258,636, a 7.6 percent increase, and at liberal arts colleges, which are generally smaller and don't offer graduate degrees, median compensation was $293,967, a 6.5 percent increase.

Public university pay

Details of Illinois' highest-compensated public university presidents. Total compensation includes salaries, value of benefits and extras, such as deferred compensation for the 2007-08 academic year.

The top 5 Name University Compensation B. Joseph White University of Illinois system $555,000 Richard Herman U of I at Urbana-Champaign $427,500 John G. Peters Northern Illinois $417,321 Glenn Poshard Southern Illinois $383,090 Alvin Bowman Jr. Illinois State $340,980