Editor Note: Since this subject is sensitive, some faculty have agreed to give their opinion but they felt compelled to remain anonymous.
While the cost of colleges and universities has been rising, so have the salaries of university presidents. Private regional university presidents made, on average, 11 times the amount of the average Pennsylvania student loan debt accrued during the 2017-2018 school year.
Cabrini University’s tuition was $32,775 for the 2017-2018 school year. The average Pennsylvania student who graduated in 2018 left school with a loan debt averaging $37,061, according to a report by the Institute for College Access and Success.
Nevertheless, the president of Cabrini University made 13 times the cost of tuition. In 2017, the total compensation for the position held was $477,782, according to Cabrini’s 2017-2018 IRS 990 form.
Some Cabrini professors expressed displeasure with the size of the president’s salary.
“There is something systemically wrong with the current financial system, with Cabrini and the debt of students in comparison to the current salary of the president,” one Cabrini professor said.
Dr. Donald Taylor, Cabrini University president, said in an email communication, that the board of trustees sets the total compensation for a university president.
Total compensation includes bonuses, total reportable compensation, retirement and taxable and non-taxable income and benefits and deferred compensation. This can include retirement accounts and requirements for a president to live on campus.
Cabrini’s 990 form also indicated that the president lives on campus. Therefore the university pays for the president’s housing. Because Cabrini is a non-for-profit, the residence is not treated as taxable compensation. Housekeeping services provided for the home were also not treated as taxable compensation.
Cabrini’s presidential compensation is almost half a million annually, but relative to other universities is not the highest.
Comparable Regional Universities Presidents’ Salaries 2017-2018
Mercyhurst U. $431,070
Arcadia U. $432,758
Cabrini U. $477,782
Alvernia U. $486,898
Wilkes U. $489,349
Eastern U.* $513,264
Gwynedd Mercy U.* $535,380
Neumann U.* $676,666
*Combined compensation of two presidents.
Two individuals occupied the presidential position at Neumann University and combined made 21 times the amount of the university’s tuition, $676,666 for the 2017 year, according to their 2018 990 form.
Similarly to Neumann, Gwynedd Mercy University had two individuals occupy the presidential position and combined both made a total 10 times the amount of tuition, $535,380 for the 2017 year, according to their 990 form.
Two individuals also occupied the presidential position at Eastern University and combined made 14 times the amount of tuition, $513,264 for the 2017 year, according to their 990 form.
The president of Wilkes University, retired as of July 2019, made $489,349 for the 2017 year, 13 times the cost of tuition, according to their 990 form.
Alvernia University has a similar enrollment and tuition to Cabrini, yet their president made 14 times the amount of tuition, $486,898 for the 2017 year, according to their 990 form.
Two individuals occupied the presidential position at Arcadia University, combined made 10 times the cost of tuition, $432,758 for the 2017 year, according to their 990 form.
The president at Mercyhurst University, made $431,070 for the 2017 year, 11 times the cost of tuition, according to their 990 form.
The Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, allows any person the right to request to view federal agency records or information with a few exceptions. Under FOIA laws, the federal IRS rules require that all nonprofit organizations, including many private schools, make their annual tax returns available.
Because of these laws, many schools will post a 990 form. This form generally lists where an organization’s money comes from and where it goes. Any individual can access these forms and find out information about an organization, for example the five highest paid employees at a private school and their salaries.
A 990 form can provide individuals not only with certain employees’ base salaries but also other forms of compensation. For the purposes of this comparison, the total from columns D and E were referred to on the universities’ 990 forms.
“I think you will find many academics who believe that corporate culture has infected academia,” Dr. Joseph Cimakasky, philosophy and liberal studies professor, said. “We are following a corporate model. It is no wonder that the CEO, who is the president essentially, that their pay would reflect the corporate model too.”
In comparison to Cabrini’s president, Cabrini professors, who perform the education students are paying tuition for, made significantly less. Faculty also received a decrease in retirement compensation and only received a one percent cost of living increase, two professors confirmed.
The average salary at Cabrini for full professors was $83,548, $66,770 for associate professors, $58,337 for assistant professors and $57,580 for instructors according to a 2017 study by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Cimakasky went on to say, “This is the last bastion of democracy here. This campus culture, academia, if it falls here then I think we are in trouble. This has often been the source of social change. If we are just going to be one corporation amongst many others then it is over.”