Minnesota State University Reporter

Issue date: 11/25/08 Section: Campus News

One man at Minnesota State makes more money than a U.S. Senator and about half the salary of the President of the United States, but is still at the low end of his colleagues at other universities. The man? MSU President Richard Davenport. His base salary? According to public information from the Department of Human Resources, around $218,952.

A study recently completed by the Chronicle of Higher Education (CHE) found that, despite the world economy's floundering status, the average salary of a university president has gone up by nearly eight percent in the past year.

Based in Washington, D.C., the CHE is a newspaper that focuses on national university news as well as information regarding university job availabilities, faculty and administration duties and various other related topics.

The study, which revealed that about one third of university presidents earn more than $500,000 per year, has sparked considerable criticism in the face of the current economic recession. With college tuition rates all over the nation rising - including a predicted 6.4 percent increase this fall - both students and professors alike are questioning the reasons behind this boost in university president compensation.

The reason for this worry, says the CHE, is that while college presidents are receiving a considerable increase in their salaries, the schools themselves are feeling funding cuts. Several universities throughout the nation are already delaying construction projects or laying off staff, citing the current economic downturn as the cause, despite the fact that these universities are receiving an increase in tuition every year.

Nevertheless, many analysts and university executives argue that holding onto a talented administrator has never been more important.

"In the face of the current [economic recession] along with the increasingly tight budgets that public universities are forced to work with the investment in a [competent] CEO is perhaps the single most cost-effective investment a [school] board can make in the whole university," said Raymond Cotton, an attorney who specializes in university presidential compensation, to BusinessWeek,

Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa begs to differ.

"The Chronicle's study," said Grassley in an article from BusinessWeek, "shows that executive suite seems insulated from budget crunches. In these hard economic times, apparently belt-tightening is for families and students, not university presidents."

So just how much are some of these university presidents paid?

According to the CHE's study, Suffolk University in Boston's David Sargent - the highest-paid president of a private university - holds a salary of about $3 million. The highest- paid public university president, on the other hand, is Gordon Gee of Ohio State, who receives $1.3 million per year.

The Star Tribune recently ran a feature story on the University of Minnesota's Robert Bruininks, who ranks No. 7 on the list of the nation's best- compensated public university presidents with a $733,421 annual salary. Even community college presidents are receiving a large spike in pay, with Michael McCall of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System leading the pack at a little more than $600,000 per year.

To focus more on the averages, however, private university presidents are paid an average of about $550,000 per year, while their public counterparts receive $450,000. These salaries contrast sharply with other more prominent public service officials. For instance, the average U.S. Senator receives around $160,000 per year, while even the U.S. President is granted a mere $400,000 salary.

In the face of recent controversy surrounding university presidential pay, however, many presidents are forfeiting their raises or offering to donate the extra money to school projects or community measures.

For example, University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutmann earned a near 40 percent increase in her salary from last year - which is now up to $1.1 million - but she plans to donate $100,000 per year to the school's undergraduate research program. This is less than 25 percent of the raise she was given, and her donation might easily be written off as a tax deduction.

Likewise, Washington State University president Elson Floyd gained media attention when he turned down a $125,000 raise last summer, instead opting to take 20 percent of that, or $25,000.


Matt Sauer is a Reporter staff writer