The year before a souring economy caused endowments to fall, jobs to be cut and pay to be frozen, presidents of major private research universities across the country had an extraordinary year for pay increases.
Their median compensation -- salary plus benefits --grew by 15.5 percent in just one year at 97 nonprofit schools in 2007-08, according to a report being released Monday by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The report is based on IRS filings. The Chronicle will release its report on public colleges and universities next year.
The median pay -- the point at which half make more and half make less -- was $627,750 for the major private research universities.
In all, the 23 private-college presidents earned more than $1 million in 2007-08.
Of executive pay raises overall, Paul Fain, senior reporter for The Chronicle, said, "I think the answer you'd get from the governing boards who set the salary levels is it is a market. It is increasingly hard to find people who can do these jobs that are getting tougher all the time."
Since the recession, some college presidents have taken pay cuts, pay freezes or donated a portion of salary back to their schools, the Chronicle said. Those changes are not reflected in the numbers in the report.
Among the major private research institutions, the 15.5 percent increase in the median in 2007-08 is so large that -- adjusted for inflation -- it accounts for more than half of the increase in median compensation for presidents at those types of institutions over a five-year period.
The Chronicle calculated how much of the increase was above the level required to keep pace with inflation, concluding it amounted to 11.3 percent between 2006-07 and 2007-08 and 19.6 percent for a five-year period.
Pay isn't the only thing that has been going up.
The Chronicle noted that 58 private colleges now charge more than $50,000 a year in tuition, room, board and fees, compared to only five last year. Another 224 private colleges have passed the $40,000 mark, compared to just two in 2003-04.
Many of the schools with high costs also have presidents among the highest paid, according to The Chronicle.
Overall, the Chronicle examined the IRS filings of 419 nonprofit private colleges and universities granting bachelor's, master's and/or doctoral degrees and having expenditures above $50 million.
Among all of the institutions, the median compensation went up 6.5 percent to $358,746 in 2007-08, compared to the prior year.
Reach Eleanor Chute at echute(at)post-gazette.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com
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