As protests against Israel continue to escalate in elite colleges and universities across America, campus leaders find themselves facing a challenging situation. The ongoing antisemitic demonstrations have disrupted campuses as the spring term progresses and graduation season approaches. According to research by Fox News, these unauthorized encampments and other forms of protest have occurred at over half of the top 50 colleges in America since April 17th.
College presidents are grappling with public safety concerns while attempting to restore calm on campus without exacerbating tensions further. Some donors, however, may reconsider their support for universities based on how they respond to these protests. The compensation of college leaders varies widely depending on the size and prestige of the institution in question.
According to a report from ‘The Chronicle of Higher Education’ published in 2021, Amy Gutmann earned nearly $22.9 million that year as president of UPenn, making her one of the highest-paid university presidents in America. This figure included approximately $1.6 million in base pay and a bonus worth around $1 million; the remainder came from deferred compensation and investment gains totaling over $20 million. Gutmann’s earnings that year would have ranked 68th among CEOs of S&P 500 companies, according to ‘The Wall Street Journal.’ She departed UPenn in December as its longest-serving president on record for a position as U.S. Ambassador to Germany under the Biden administration.
Columbia University’s former President Lee Bollinger earned nearly $3.9 million that year, according to ‘The Chronicle of Higher Education.’ This sum included base pay worth over $1.6 million and other compensation totaling more than a million dollars; he also received a bonus worth around $700,000 in addition to almost half a million dollars’ worth of benefits. Bollinger left Columbia University in June 2023 after serving as its president for many years. His successor is Minouche Shafik.
The previous President at NYU was Andrew Hamilton, who earned more than $3.5 million that year according to ‘The Chronicle of Higher Education.’ The majority of this sum came from base pay worth over three and a half million dollars; he also received around $213,000 in benefits. This would have ranked him 401st among CEOs of S&P 500 companies according to ‘The Wall Street Journal’ rankings for that year. Hamilton left NYU last July after serving as its president since 2019; his successor is Linda Mills.
Carol Folt, the current President at USC earned nearly $3.5 million in compensation during 2021 according to ‘The Chronicle of Higher Education.’ Her salary was composed largely of base pay worth over one and a half million dollars; she also received approximately ninety thousand dollars’ worth of bonus payments as well as more than eleven hundred thousand dollars from other sources such as retirement contributions, life insurance benefits, health care expenses etc. This would have ranked her 402nd among CEOs in the S&P 500 rankings published by ‘The Wall Street Journal.’ Folt has served as President at USC since 2019 and continues to do so presently.
Lastly, former Chicago University President Robert Zimmer earned over $3.4 million during that same year according to the aforementioned report from ‘The Chronicle of Higher Education.’ This sum included approximately one point four million dollars in base pay as well as more than seventeen hundred thousand dollars’ worth of bonus payments; most of the remainder came from other compensation sources such as deferred remuneration or supplementary retirement plans etc. Based on rankings published by ‘The Wall Street Journal,’ this would have placed him at number 403 amongst CEOs in their annual ranking list for that year. Zimmer served as President at Chicago University between the years of 2006 and 2021, during which time he also held a chancellor position before it was eliminated from his role in academic year 2021-22 due to its redundancy with his existing duties as president.
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