Public College Plutocrats

Accuracy in Academia ^ | June 19, 2015 | Malcolm A. Kline

[Academiadotorg]

When Hillary Clinton, President Obama and other progressives rail against “the fortunate,” “the haves,” and “the lucky,” don’t expect them to rail against public college presidents, no matter how much they richly, every pun intended, deserve it.

Here, courtesy of the Chronicle of Higher Education, are some of the fortunate few:

• Rodney A. Erickson, president of Penn State at University Park, who took home $1,494,603 in 2014;

• R. Bowen Loftin, then of Texas A & M, who received $1,128,957 that same year;

• Joseph A. Alutto, then of Ohio State, who got $996,169 in 2014;

• Elson S. Floyd, still of Washington State, who got $877,250 during the same 2012-2014 school year;

• Paula Allen-Meares, then of the University of Illinois at Chicago, who got $872,458 in that same school year;

• Francisco G. Cigarroa, then of the University of Texas system, who pulled down $864,660 in the 2013-2014 school year;

• Renu Khator, still at the University of Houston, who pulled down $850,000;

• Patrick T. Harker, of the University of Delaward, who got $800,156;

• Michael A. McRobbie of Indiana University at Bloomington, who made $778,143; and

• Charles W. Steger, then of Virginia Tech, who pulled in $745,195.

Incidentally, the numbers for Loftin and Steger only reflect “partial year compensation.”

[Academiadotorg]

how come these guys skate when politicians want to rail against the rich?

[Dilbert San Diego]

How is it that these college presidents get paid so much? I’ve heard some talk that excessive administrative expenses in recent years have helped drive college tuition costs higher and higher.

In addition to the college president and his/her pay, there is an entire office of support staff and deans and assistant deans who need to be paid too.

[Dilbert San Diego]

Because colleges tend to be hotbeds of liberalism, and liberal.politicos won’t criticize fellow liberals. And also because liberals have such a soft spot for education and give higher education establishments a pass.

[Academiadotorg]

depending on whether you count adjuncts and grad students who teach, administrators and support staff may outnumber professors. If you go to the want ads in the Chronicle of Higher Education, administrative openings definitely outnumber teaching openings.

[riverdawg]

” ... administrators and support staff may outnumber professors”

This has been true at the local state university for at least 15 years. In 1985, the business school there had 120 faculty and 80 administrative and clerical staff. By 2000, the numbers had reversed: 80 faculty and 120 staff.

[bjorn14]

Go to HigherEdJobs.com and the disparity is insane.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

-— how come these guys skate when politicians want to rail against the rich? -—

They’re non-profits!

Seriously, according to Howie Carr, a Boston radio talk show host who has worked at public and private TV and radio stations, the offices of the government run stations are like the Taj Mahal, compared to their private counterparts, and they still have rgular beg-a-thons.