Presidential Pay Tops $160,000 at 2-Year Colleges, Survey Finds

Chronicle of Higher Education 4/16/07

By Elyse Ashburn

Community-college presidents make an average of $161,380, up 6 percent from last year, according to preliminary survey results released on Sunday by the American Association of Community Colleges.

Presidents' base salaries averaged $153,684, plus other cash benefits, according to a national survey of 548 two-year colleges conducted in November. By comparison, full professors at community colleges make $68,289 on average, according to data released last week by the American Association of University Professors (The Chronicle, April 12, 2007).

The community-college association released the findings of its survey on chief-executive compensation and contracts at its annual conference, which wraps up here Tuesday.

Other findings of the survey included:

• Colleges leaders in the far Western states and the mid-Atlantic were the highest paid, while those in the Rocky Mountain region were the lowest paid.
• Male college presidents made $164,759 on average, while female leaders made $160,137.
• About 2 percent of presidents received signing bonuses.
• About 20 percent of presidents received compensation for outside work, earning an average of $8,784 a year.
• Half of presidential contracts placed no restrictions on outside work.

A full report on the survey findings will be available from the association this summer.