Private college presidents' pay rose 6.5% in 2008
Filed under: Money College
Even as endowments tanked, employees were laid off, and tuition bills were hiked in the face of decimated 401(k)s and home values, the presidents of the "top" (whatever that means) private college and universities in the United States still managed to take home 6.5% more cash in 2008 than they did in 2007.Take a look at the list of the highest paid college presidents:
Shirley Ann Jackson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - $1,598,247
David J. Sargent, Suffolk University -- $1,496,593
Steadman Upham, University of Tulsa -- $1,428,275
Richard S. Meyers, Webster University -- $1,429,738
It's hard for me to imagine why anyone should get $1,598,247 for running Hartford, CT-based Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Given that school's student body of just 5,394 undergraduates, that works out to nearly $300 per student flowing directly into the pocket of the president. Perhaps that explains the 2009-2010 sticker price of $39,165 -- and the fact that 70% of students graduate with an average of $30,375 in debt -- nearly 50% higher than the national average among college graduates.
Look, I don't doubt that these college presidents provide value to the schools they work at -- mainly in the form of fundraising. But at a time when so many of their students are struggling and debt loads are ballooning, it would be nice to see them take a break from pay increases. Sadly, that didn't happen.
On reason that large colleges -- especially public colleges -- generally offer a good deal is that administrative costs scale well: A school with 10 times as many students will generally have far lower per capita administrative costs.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-03-2009 @ 12:09PM
Alex said...
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is based in Troy, NY. The Hartford campus is a small branch.
"On reason that large colleges -- especially public colleges -- generally offer a good deal is that administrative costs scale well: A school with 10 times as many students will generally have far lower per capita administrative costs."
Is there any data supporting this claim that larger schools are cheaper than smaller schools? When comparing small and large public schools, I have rarely seen much of a price difference.
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11-03-2009 @ 1:13PM
Tim Anderson said...
The picture you are using is of Gordon Gee, past president of Vanderbilt (private) but current president of The Ohio State University.
His salary is $775,000. Fairly high, but understandable for one of the largest schools in the country.
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11-07-2009 @ 9:58AM
Alexis H. said...
Gordon Gee also refused to accept a pay raise AND bonus this year, instead asking that the money be put towards scholarships for Ohio State University students.
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11-07-2009 @ 11:24AM
Bryce said...
Perhaps a small amount of justification for the high salary of the president and why the graduates have some debt coming out, is the high salaries:
http://www.rpi.edu/news/articles/forbes.html
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11-07-2009 @ 11:53AM
John Hietter said...
I think it's pretty disrespectful that they put a picture of Gordon Gee on this article, with dollar signs on his glasses. He's not part of the article and he REFUSED his last pay increase AND his bonuses!
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11-07-2009 @ 11:58AM
Wintermute said...
A correction is needed: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is not located in Hartford CT, it is based in Troy NY. Which is very apparent if you visit the website for RPI.
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11-07-2009 @ 12:41PM
Bryan said...
I think it's very disrespectful and inaccurate to include a picture of Gordon Gee for this story because he no longer works for a private institution and declined a pay raise or a bonus in 2008.
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11-07-2009 @ 6:32PM
KW said...
The high tuition of private college students and the high salaries of the schools' presidents are not directly related. The author's statement that $300 of the $30,000+ tution is due to the president's salary demonstrates this. That's $300 due to the salary, which means about $20 is due to the pay increase.
I'm not saying that the tution isn't too high or that the presidents are not paid too much, just that these are really two separate issues.
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11-19-2009 @ 10:04PM
firebrand said...
hush money. these long nose son of a bitches are traitors to the american people and democracy. they will be punished when the nuremberg type tribunals commence, right along with the rest of their bastard buddies.
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