Local college presidents rake in as much as seven times what an average professor at their school earns — a gap roughly twice the national average, a new survey shows.
The latest Chronicle of Higher Education report on executive compensation at nearly 500 private colleges found the average president took in 3.7 times more pay than a professor at the same school in 2009.
At Columbia University, President Lee Bollinger’s $1.5 million compensation that year was 6.9 times the median professor payout of $222,000, which includes benefits.
NYU President John Sexton earned $1.5 million to the average professor’s $228,000, a ratio of 6.7 to 1.
The presidents of Yeshiva University, Cooper Union and Marymount Manhattan College also all earned at least five times what their professors make.
“We’ve been arguing for a number of years that the compensation of presidents has become increasingly out of line with that paid to faculty members and other employees — especially at a time when there are real fiscal challenges . . . and a lot of faculty members are asked to take salary freezes or cuts to benefits,” said John Curtis, director of research and public policy for the American Association of University Professors in Washington, DC. “It seems inappropriate.”
NYU Board of Trustees Chairman Martin Lipton noted that Sexton still teaches a course every semester, doesn’t sit on any corporate boards and has been integral in improving the university’s fund-raising initiatives.
“John Sexton’s compensation reflects the fact that he is successfully running one of the largest private universities in the country and one of the largest employers in New York,” Lipton said.
A spokesman for Columbia didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Three-dozen college chiefs took in more than $1 million, according to the latest annual survey.