Highest Paid University President Makes $4.6 Million

It is as much as many largest chief executive officers make. Lee Bollinger of Columbia University took home $4.6 million in 2013, the latest period for which data were available, and he was not alone in the $1 million plus category.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education:

Mr. Bollinger earned just over $4.6 million, including $1.26 million in compensation that had been set aside over 11 years. Such deferred payments, which are often forfeited if a leader resigns before a specific date, are a common retention tool benefiting college presidents.

Behind him on the list, Amy Gutmann of the University of Pennsylvania made $3.06 million. About $500,000 of this was for leading a fund-raising campaign that brought in $4.3 billion over five years.

The next president on the list is from a college no one has heard of:

The third-highest-paid president was Nido R. Qubein of High Point University, which is perhaps known best for its free ice cream, campus putting green, and dormitories with outdoor hot tubs. The university has the smallest endowment, $42 million, among the 10 highest-paid presidents.

Mr. Qubein earned just over $2.9 million, with slightly over $1.6 million of it in the form of compensation deferred for three years.

High Point, a liberal-arts campus in North Carolina, has been on a construction spree in recent years. While building new academic centers, it has also provided extravagant student amenities as a way to gain national recognition.

Ivy League presidents who preside over huge endowments, extraordinary faculties and brilliant students fell well down the list. Richard C. Levin of Yale made $1.1 million. Shirley Tilghman of Princeton made $931,000. Drew Gilpin Faust of Harvard made $930,000.
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Methodology:

The Chronicle‘s executive-compensation package has been updated with information on private-college presidents for the 2013 calendar year.

The update provides data on 558 chief executives at 497 private nonprofit colleges in the United States. The median salary for leaders in office for the full year was $436,429. Thirty-two of the presidents earned more than $1 million.

The most recent data on public-college presidents, also from 2013, include information on 238 chief executives at 220 public universities and systems in the United States. The median salary for those in office for the full year was $428,250.