Worcester Colleges: What the Presidents Make

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Thursday, June 06, 2013

Kate Nagle, GoLocalWorcester News Contributor

As college commencements now wind down, but high school graduations continue to heat up, GoLocal takes a look at area Worcester colleges to see what the presidents are making for compensation, both at base salary -- as well as the whole package. GoLocal used 990s filed with GuideStar to conduct the research.

Recent Changes

The landscape of Worcester higher education saw a shift earlier this year when the Colleges of Worcester Consortium announced it was splitting in two, with one side becoming a new nonprofit model that will continue to run the consortium's college access programs, and the other a much smaller version of the consortium's member services provided.

According to the consortium, there are over 30,000 college students in the city, and colleges represent one of the largest industries in Worcester, employing more than 16,000 full and part time faculty and staff.

Moreover, the total economic impact of Consortium member institutions on the state of Massachusetts is estimated to be more than $2.5 billion. 

Another recent change in the higher education world in Worcester was the departure of Dennis Berkey as President at WPI last month.  Berkey had been at the helm there since 2004.  

National Trends

A recent article in Time Magazine showed that State and local funding for public universities fell by 7% last year, but that "didn’t prevent some college presidents from getting raises. In 2011–12, the median total compensation for chief executives at public colleges was $441,392 — a 4.7% increase from the 2010–11 school year."

And it wasn't just public schools that saw presidents making strides in a tight economy.  

Presidents at 36 private colleges earned more than $1 million in 2009, up from 33 the previous year, according to a study by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

How much have Presidents at local colleges been getting paid?  View the slideshow below to find out -- and weigh in.  

And see how presidential pay stacks up to school ranks with a look at GoLocal's "Top Local Colleges 2013" here.  

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