Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia University, enjoyed the most generous package, a total of $4.6 million.

Forbes reports.

The Highest-Paid Private College Presidents

In the midst of increasing pressure on colleges to make tuition more affordable, a new report from the Chronicle of Higher Education shows that presidents at private colleges continue to enjoy substantial increases in compensation. Pay packages for the 558 college leaders the Chronicle tracked climbed 5.6% between 2012 and 2013 to a median of $436,000.

Some college presidents earned a great deal more. Among the top 10 in 2013, the latest year for which tax filings were available, Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia University, enjoyed the most generous package, a total of $4.6 million, including $1.17 million in base pay, a bonus of $943,000, use of a university residence and other deferred compensation. In second place: Amy Gutmann of the University of Pennsylvania, who was paid $3.1 million, including base pay of $1.2 million and a bonus of $1.5 million.

The Chronicle’s online list of presidents’ pay includes an interactive feature that shows the breakdown of each person’s package. Most of the highest-paid presidents landed at the top of the list because of large deferred-compensation payouts, says Sandhya Kambhampati, database reporter at the Chronicle, who put together the list. “Whenever their payout comes, they jump to the top of the list,” she says.


 
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