Dive Brief:
- Higher education institutions have long argued they must compete with the private sector when it comes to administrator pay and some of the latest salary disclosures reflect that.
- Bloomberg Business reports: Columbia University paid President Lee Bollinger $4.6 million in 2013, which included a base salary of $1.17 million, and Yale saluted its outgoing president with an $8.5 million bonus in 2013 when he retired after 20 years of service.
- Dartmouth, Princeton and Yale made hires in 2013 with salaries around $700,000 to $800,000.
Dive Insight:
Administrator salary is getting more attention as the cost of tuition for students continues to rise. Faculty who have seen sometimes flat or slowly growing salaries have criticized administrative compensation, which is tied to the number of administrative positions as well as the pay at the top. As Bloomberg reports, one big criticism comes because these salaries are going to leaders of nonprofit organizations. Across the board, faculty included, experts in many fields can find better salaries outside of academia. Tenure and other benefits are recruitment strategies, but nonprofits also appeal to a certain level of altruism.