Dan Flynn

     The Chronicle of Higher Education released its annual survey of the pay and benefits awarded to the presidents of private colleges. The report revealed that more than 74 private-college presidents received compensation packages of more than $300,000, up from only 38 presidents earning that amount or more just three years ago.

     Of the 74 college presidents earning $300,000 or more, 21 were compensated between $400,000 and $499,999, and seven made more than $500,000.

     Topping the list was Williams College President Harry Payne, whose pay and benefits package totaled $872,222 for 1998-1999, the year for which the most recent figures are available. Payne's hefty take, however, is part of a severance package and is not typical of the annual keep of Williams' leader.

     Others high on the list include the University of Pennsylvania's Judith Rodin ($655,557), NYU's Jay Oliva ($649,633), John Hopkins University's William Brody ($645,710), Vanderbilt University's Joe Wyatt ($532,461), Yale University's Richard C. Levin ($525,687), and Columbia University's George Rupp ($500,204).

     Critics of the huge payments to college presidents note that institutions of higher learning are non-profit organizations that should shy away from extravagant expenditures, particularly with regard to salaries. Defenders of the escalating earnings point out that most college presidents could be earning comparable amounts of money in other fields and that the heads of similarly-sized corporations earn exponentially higher salaries than their counterparts in academia.

     Information on the salaries and benefits packages of college officials earning more than $50,000 is included in the 990 forms such groups file with the Internal Revenue Service. These 990 forms, which are filed not just by colleges but by other non-profit groups as well (including Accuracy in Academia, the publisher of this newspaper), are disclosed to anyone who wants to inspect them. Public universities are exempt from divulging such information to the IRS.