WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Forty-two private college presidents in the United States were paid more than $1 million in 2011, data compiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education revealed.
In an annual report released Sunday, the Chronicle said Robert Zimmer, president of the University of Chicago, was the highest paid private college president for the year with compensation that totaled $3,358,723.
Northeastern University President Joseph Aoun also earned more than $3 million. He was followed by Dennis Murray at Marist College, who was paid $2,688,148, Lee Bollinger at Columbia University, who was paid $2,327,344 and Lawrence Bacow, who was paid $2,223,752.
The highest paid female college president, Amy Gutmann at the University of Pennsylvania, was paid $2,091,764,which put her in sixth place for earnings for the year.
The Chronicle said Zimmer, at the top of the list, was paid eight times the amount of a typical college president, and $1,031,379 more than the second highest-paid president of a similar institution.
Overall, the median pay for college presidents in 2011 was $410,523, a 3 percent hike from 2010.
Zimmer, to his credit, is one 10 college presidents who oversee an institution with a budget of more than $3 billion, the Chronicle said.
With that in mind, Zimmer earned $1,113 for every $1 million in the budget's expenses compared to a median pay for college presidents of $5,466 per $1 million in expenses.
On the flip side of the coin, President Drew Gilpin Faust at Harvard University earned $899,734 in 2011, a college with a budget of $3.9 billion.
Faust did not make the top 50 list and made only $230 for every $1 million Harvard spent in 2011, the Chronicle said.
