Thirty-six private-college presidents in the U.S. earned more than $1 million in 2012, as compared to only two of their public-school counterparts, according to a report released Sunday by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Shirley Ann Jackson, president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, made $7.14 million, a large portion of which derived from a 10-year, $5.9 million retention incentive payout she received that year, the Chronicle reported.
A private-school president was more likely to make just shy of $400,000, the median compensation of the 537 presidents at 497 private research institutions surveyed.
The ranking was based on an analysis of the 2012 Form 990 tax forms and filings with the U.S. Department of Education. The Chronicle changed its reporting methodology this year to count only how much a president received, instead of including retirement pay and set-aside payments.
In Maryland, Johns Hopkins University's Ronald J. Daniels ranked 27th on the highest-paid private-college president list at $1.1 million. Stevenson's Kevin J. Manning was the only other Maryland president in the top 100, at 95th, earning $640,566.
Thomas H. Powell, of Mount St. Mary's University, made $526,995, putting him at 143rd on the ranking and third in the state.
St. John's College's Christopher B. Nelson and McDaniel College's Roger N. Casey rounded out Maryland's top five highest-paid private-college presidents, earning $461,885 and $422,013, respectively.
Two public college presidents' pay topped $1 million in 2012. Former Pennsylvania State University President Graham B. Spanier received $1.2 million in severance pay after he was terminated for his handling of a child-molestation scandal, bringing his total compensation to $2.8 million. Auburn University's Jay Gogue received $1.8 million in deferred pay, bringing his 2012 total to just under $2.3 million.
Using the amended methodology, Maryland's top-paid public-college presidents were University System of Maryland Chancellor William E. Kirwan, at $490,000; University of Maryland, College Park President Wallace Loh, at $450,000; and University of Maryland, Baltimore County President Freeman Hrabowski, at $428,807.
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Private college top earners in 2012
Shirley Ann Jackson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, $7,143,312
John L Lahey, Quinnipiac University, $3,759,076
Lee C. Bollinger, Columbia University, $3,389,917
Amy Gutmann, University of Pennsylvania, $2,473,952
Charles R. Middleton, Roosevelt University, $1,762,956
Susan Hockfield*, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, $1,679,097
David W. Leebron, Rice University, $1,522,502
John E. Sexton, New York University, $1,404,484
Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Rockefeller University, $1,381,341
Richard C. Levin*, Yale University, $1,375,365
*No longer president at that institution.
SOURCE: The Chronicle of Higher Education