University of Connecticut President Michael J. Hogan was ranked among the 20 highest-paid top executives at public colleges and universities in 2008-09, according to a compensation survey conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Hogan received a base salary of $577,500 in 2008-09, making him the 19th highest paid public university president in the United States, the survey said.
The salary doesn’t include other benefits that Hogan received, including $15,000 for a car, $46,200 in retirement pay, and the use of a house near the UConn campus in Storrs.
In addition, Marc S. Herzog, the chancellor of Connecticut Community Colleges, was ranked as the 34th highest paid top executive among community colleges in the United States.
Herzog received a base salary of $290,489 in 2008-09, as well $7,614 for a car and an expense account.
Overall, the survey showed compensation packages of chief executives at public schools leveling off in 2008-2009, rising a relatively modest 2.3 percent. One in 10 saw their pay decline. Some who did get raises or bonuses gave the money back to their schools.
The highest-paid president in this year’s public school survey is Gordon Gee of Ohio State University, whose pay is worth more than $1.5 million including salary, retirement and deferred compensation.
Presidential salaries at public universities and colleges have come under greater scrutiny as many bursting-at-the-seams schools raise tuition to offset steep declines in state funding.
The latest figures show that the economy and fears of a backlash over perceived high salaries are trumping — at least for now — the argument that public schools need to pay top dollar for top talent.
“Students and families have had to tighten their belts, so I bet they’ll appreciate seeing some restraint among college presidents,” said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a critic of executive pay at colleges and other nonprofits. “Holding off on raises is in sync with the reality for families trying to pay for college in the midst of high unemployment and the worst economy in decades.”
Over the previous six years, annual pay increases of 10 percent or more became the norm for many public school presidents. So while base salaries rose for two-thirds of top executives in the 2008-2009 survey of 185 public universities and community colleges, the dollars involved were significantly smaller.
The median compensation package for public school top executives in 2008-2009 was $436,111. Eleven public university presidents earned $700,000 or more, down from 15 the previous year.
The pay slowdown can be explained both by the recession and greater scrutiny at a time when public schools are under tremendous pressure, said Jeffrey Selingo, editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education.
State tax support for higher education declined 1.1 percent nationwide in 2009-2010 — a drop that would have been much more severe without federal stimulus dollars, according to a separate report Monday by the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University.
Students are being asked to make up much of the difference. In-state tuition for students at four-year public schools rose 6.5 percent last fall over the previous year, according to the College Board.
AP writer Eric Gorski contributed to this report
