College has always been thought of as the path to riches. Turns out it is — at least for college presidents.
At a time of rising tuition payments and crushing student debt, the number of college presidents earning more than $1 million continues to rise.
New York has its share, though most of our millionaire presidents head private rather than public colleges.
Compensation ranges from $2.7 million for Marist College’s Dennis Murray and $2.6 million for Columbia’s Lee Bollinger to $1.8 million for Rensselaer Polytech’s Shirley Ann Jackson to $1.5 million for NYU’s John Sexton.
Even private colleges, of course, enjoy hefty government subsidies — especially via federal student loans. These dollars go to the school no matter how the student does, and they have encouraged colleges to hike tuitions far faster than inflation.
In testimony before Congress this week, The Center for College Affordability & Productivity’s Richard Vedder cut to the chase:
Aid programs “have increased the demand for higher education more than the supply, leading to higher prices . . . Without massive federal-aid programs, I doubt we would have so many million-dollar presidents.”
We have nothing against college presidents being paid their full worth. But let’s not artificially inflate their compensation shouldn’t with federal loans that are supposed to benefit students.