Penn State President Eric Barron is the sixth-highest paid public university leader in the nation, according to a new report from the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The publication on Wednesday released its annual survey of executive compensation at colleges and universities, collecting data for 254 chief executives from 221 public colleges and systems.
For fiscal year 2015-16, the most recent data compiled, Barron had a total annual compensation of $1,039,717, which included base pay of $800,000, along with $224,000 in bonus pay and $15,717 in other nontaxable benefits.
The total compensation figure does not include $24,618 in retirement contributions.
‘The average pay of public-college leaders, including those who served partial years, was $464,180 in 2016,’ the Chronicle reported. ‘Among presidents who served the whole year, average pay was $521,677. Leaders who served full years at institutions surveyed in both 2015 and 2016 saw a pay increase of 5.3 percent.’
In 2014-15, Barron’s first full fiscal year leading Penn State, he was 11th in the nation in total compensation with $800,000. He did not receive a raise in salary for the 2015-16 year included in the new survey, but did receive the bonus pay.
In September of last year, the Penn State Board of Trustees approved a 2.25 percent merit increase in salary for 2016-17, bringing his base salary to $818,000, which would be figured into next year’s survey.
For private colleges, the most recent data, compiled for 2014, shows the top 11 highest paid executives each earning more than the highest paid public college leader in the current data. Jack P. Varsalona of Wilmington University in Delaware topped all total executive compensation at $5,449,405 in 2014.
The 10 highest paid public college chancellors and presidents and their total compensation are:
1. Michael M. Crow, Arizona State University, $1,554,058
2. William H. McRaven, University of Texas System, $1,500,000
3. John Sharp, Texas A&M University System, $1,280,438
4. W. Kent Fuchs, University of Florida, $1,102,862
5. Michael A. McRobbie, Indiana University System, $1,067,074
6. Eric J. Barron, Penn State University, $1,039,717
7. Michael V. Drake, Ohio State University, $1,034,574
8. Michael K. Young, Texas A&M University, $1,000,000
9. Jean E. Robillard, University of Iowa, $929,045 (Partial year compensation)
10. Raymond Watts, University of Alabama at Birmingham, $890,000
