If making $1,000,000+ is "extremely" profitable, then what adjective do you use for someone who has made $1,000,000,000+ at a for-profit university? The President of OSU, even at $6.1 million per year, would have to work nonstop for 200 years to match the founder of UoP.
What does the UoP president make? (not the founder) Also, people who infer that money, politics and profits are not involved in non-profit, taxpayer supported/structured colleges and universities are not being realistic. No matter how it's structured, certain people are making a lot of money. At least the for-profits are honest about it.
Answer here: That's obviously quite a bit more than any of the non-profit administrators you've named. And it's not unusual. A little googling will show that the CEO of Bridgepoint has pulled in $20,000,000 in a good year, and the CEO of Strayer has pulled in $42,000,000. So does a top university administrator make substantially less in the non-profit sector than in the for-profit sector? And if so, isn't that the way that it's supposed to work? If you really want to know who is making the big bucks at non-profit, taxpayer-subsidized institutions -- it's not the presidents. It's the football and basketball coaches. It's unusual for a university president to make more than $1m -- but it's routine for top coaches. For example, here are the lists of 25 highest paid basketball coaches and the 25 highest paid football coaches. They are all $1m plus. We may or may not agree that taxpayers should pay coaches like this, but it's not something that is being covered up. The general public has a strong interest in college football and basketball, and it makes headlines whenever top coaches agree to new contracts. Nobody is being dishonest or secretive about it.
The extreme profitability of for-profits is being used to justify the extreme salaries (1m+) of non-profits that are supported with unlimited [sic] taxpayer dollars.
OK - you're zeroing in on the presidents making $1 million +. What about the College sports coaches making $5 million or more? Universities in other countries don't have that problem. As I see it -- it's completely crazy. Johann
Yep, others have also pointed that out. Some people get very upset when for-profits make a lot of money, but the same complainers do not complain when millions of taxpayer dollars are used to subsidize enormous [alleged] non-profit salaries (whether it be for university presidents, coaches or whatever) or other large expenditures. At one public college (which shall remain unnamed), the president was given a brand new Cadillac to sport around in, in addition to other unique benefits -- courtesy of the taxpayer. But alas, since the new Cadillac is classified as a non-profit expenditure (or a non-profit benefit), it is somehow supposed to be more noble than a for-profit endeavor. Non-profit and for-profit both have the word profit in them.
My understanding of the requirement for a non-profit is that the profits are retained by the organization, versus distributing it to owners or shareholders. With some additional minor restrictions, everything else about them is just like a corporation. Although almost all charities are non-profit, most non-profits are not charities.
My comment is only a little off topic. I am a state employee and look forward to a modest pension in one of the healthier pension systems in the country. But it is always the target of politicians trying to get rid of it and citing the outliers that get the huge pensions, some getting more annually in pension than I presently earn in three years. Of course they leave out these people are usually political appointees or similar. So my comment is, why are university presidents and other highly paid administrators eligible to participate in the pension system? Our local university presidents are making over $400,000 per year plus get perks (car is one that I know about). If a person can't save money in an area where the average salary hovers around $40,000 per year, they aren't qualified to be earning that high salary. I recognize not all university admin or other employees are highly paid. Sorry, hope I was only a little off topic.
Excellent observation, reference allowing them to participate in state pension systems. There was a bill this year in Florida that would bar them from participating in the Florida Retirement System (the state pension system) and, instead, would make them participate in a 401k-type plan. Unfortunately, the bill didn't pass.
I should clarify: "If a person earning $400,000 per year can't save money in an area where the average salary hovers around $40,000 per year, they aren't qualified to be earning that high salary."
I believe there were a lot of problems with that bill, but restricting the high salaries was not one of them. Of course exactly where the cut-off should be would be another debate. However this might be too far off topic and better to be the subject of its own thread.
