Who Are Penn State’s Highest Paid Employees? Rhoades, Sanderson Make List for First Time

Penn State men’s basketball coach Mike Rhoades and wrestling coach Cael Sanderson both appeared for the first time on the list of the university’s highest paid employees in an annual financial disclosure published by the school on late last week.

The university is required by the state’s Right to Know Law to publish total compensation for officers and key employees, its other highest salaries and information that would appear on its exempt nonprofit return to the IRS. The newest filing is for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023 and ending June 30, 2024.

Long shrouded in mystery, Sanderson’s total compensation, not including benefits, was $964,455 — a $315,177 base salary and $649,278 in incentives and bonuses. That placed him seventh among the university’s officers and key employees and 10th overall when factoring in salaries for Penn State Health doctors and executives and other employees.

Sanderson, who has now led Penn State to 12 NCAA team championships since taking charge of the program in 2009-10, last signed a contract extension in 2022, but the university did not disclose the terms.

Unsurprisingly, football coach James Franklin — who signed a 10-year contract extension in late 2021 and had it amended last year to account for incentives in the expanded College Football Playoff — is Penn State’s highest paid employee with compensation of $8.57 million in 2023-24, not including benefits. His total includes a $500,000 base salary, $7.3 million in bonuses and incentives and $773,000 in other reportable compensation.

In his first season at the helm of Penn State’s men’s basketball program, Rhoades was No. 2 on the list with $4.18 million ($378,623 salary, $2,175,001 bonuses/incentives and $1,625,827 in other compensation). When Rhoades was hired in March 2023, he signed a seven-year contract that tops out at $4 million in total guaranteed compensation and includes incentives up to $1.075 million.

Rhoades’ predecessor, Micah Shrewsberry, had $1.9 million in reportable compensation during his final year with the program in 2022-23.

Former Penn State Health CEO Stephen Massini, who retired in October 2024, was third on the 2023-24 list with $1.6 million, and President Neeli Bendapudi was fourth with $1.38 million.

Athletic Director Patrick Kraft, who was No. 2 the previous year, had the fifth highest compensation at $1.34 million. Former football offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, who was fired in November 2023, was sixth with $1.22 million. (His successor, Andy Kotelnicki, is likely to appear among the highest paid employees on the 2024-25 report when it is filed next May.)

The overall top 10 is rounded out by three Penn State Health doctors for whom only salaries were reported — neurosurgery chair Kevin Cockroft ($1.138 million), neurosurgeon John Kelleher ($1.137 million) and orthopaedic surgeon Jesse Bible ($1.084 million) — and Sanderson.

Among officers and key employees, other notable names included former President Eric Barron, who retired in May 2022 but received $606,000 in compensation 2023-24.

Former Executive Vice President and Provost Justin Schwartz, who left the university in April 2024, earned $641,087 last year. Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Sara Thorndike had $548,583 in compensation, and Senior Vice President for Research Andrew Read had $461,215.

Michael Wade Smith, senior vice president and chief of staff, received $403,860, and Virginia Teachey, former associate vice president for budget and finance who left Penn State in April, received $303,881.

Of 146 employees with base salaries only of $500,000 or more, 140 work for Penn State Health.

Penn State’s “Public Reports” website notes that “only the compensation of University officers is paid from funds provided principally by tuition and/or Commonwealth appropriation.” The rest are paid by self-supporting entities — Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center or Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics.

10 Highest Paid Penn State Employees 2023-24