The highest-paid university presidents earn upward of $2 million per year, and skyrocketing salaries are showing no signs of slowing down, according to a study released earlier this week ranking the most generously rewarded university heads.
The compensation package of former Northeastern University President Richard Freeland, who retired in August 2006, tops the list of surveyed schools at $2,887,785 per year, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education’s annual Executive Compensation edition. That figure includes a $2.3 million long-term annuity retirement payment, said Northeastern spokesman Fred McGrail, who refused to comment further.
According to the report, Boston University President Robert Brown received $692,599 in the 2006 fiscal year, while the school paid former President Aram Chobanian, who retired in 2005, $878,326 in the same year. BU’s operating costs are roughly $1.5 billion, the Chronicle reported.
Brown’s pay is decided after extensive negotiations between the president and the Board of Trustees, said BU spokesman Colin Riley.
“The job is more complex and more difficult than previously,” Riley said. “He manages a complex educational institution that has everyone from housing and dining to faculty, and all the areas of academic excellence.”
The report details the salaries and benefits packages of presidents from 653 private four-year colleges as well as public institutions, specialty institutions and community colleges, said Chronicle staff writer Audrey June.
Even though presidents’ contracts are broken down into many parts, one common theme is consistently rising salaries, June said.
“The makeup of a president’s compensation can vary depending on what the board wants the president to have,” June said. “Compensation packages for college presidents have become larger over the years. . . . Base salaries have grown, and the amount of benefits awarded to presidents has increased as well.”
College of Communication freshman Amanda Parker said Brown’s salary should never come close to reaching Freeland’s.
“If I found out that our president was earning amounts comparable to Northeastern’s, I would be upset,” Parker said. “I’m paying for an education, and although the president is an important figure, I can’t imagine that the professors would also receive a fair share.”