It’s common for colleges to offer this pay as a retention incentive.
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A new survey of presidential earnings at private colleges finds that pay increases nationally have accelerated, and in Western Pennsylvania, that was especially true for Esther Barazzone, longtime leader of Chatham University: Her total compensation more than doubled. His package included $633,336 in base pay, $150,000 in bonus pay, $125,000 in severance and $586,267 in deferred compensation. The Chronicle relied on data from USA tax filings for its survey, which was published Sunday evening. In fact, according to CNN Money, coaches are the highest paid employees at 7 percent of private universities.
While the millionaires’ club is filled with names of leaders of prominent colleges, several presidents of less-well-known institutions also made the list.
Pay for other Western Pennsylvania private campus presidents ranged from Jared Cohon, Carnegie Mellon University’s president at that time, at $871,145, including $550,736 in base pay and $69,250 in bonus pay; to Kenneth Smith of Geneva College at $234,641, including $190,079 in base pay.
High Point, a liberal-arts campus in North Carolina, has been on a construction spree in recent years. Brandeis president Frederick M. Lawrence, who stepped down earlier this year, was next, at $938,759.
The 2012 survey showed Bollinger earned $3.4 million and Gutmann $2.5 million, ranking them third and fourth, respectively, that year in compensation. Thirty-two of the presidents earned more than $1 million.
Jonathan D. Schiller, chair of Columbia’s Board of Trustees, defended Bollinger’s compensation. These figures are not directly comparable to data reported for private colleges, because they reflect slightly different categories of pay and different periods of time. The Chronicle found 32 college presidents who make more than a million dollars.
The presidential picture at Yale University was complicated in 2013 by a turnover in Woodbridge Hall, from Richard C. Levin to Peter Salovey. His total package was $1.12 million.
“Long-time Columbia University President Lee Bollinger earned the most with $4.6 million in total compensation, including $1.26 million in deferred compensation”, Kambhampati says.
Moshael J. Straus, chairman of the Board of Trustees, said in an email to The Chronicle that “President Joel and his team have navigated many challenges and today the university is well positioned to further its unique mission and provide students with a world-class educational experience”.
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Most non-profit endowments are required to spend at least 5 percent of their value every year to keep their non-profit status, but universities are exempted from this requirement, which in the case of top schools has allowed them to balloon to vast size.
