The price of leadership continues to rise in higher education, particularly in terms of presidential pay at public universities.
The U. of Pennsylvania paid its president, Amy Gutmann, $1,088,786 in total compensation in 2006-7, a 40-percent increase. Some lawmakers argue that nonprofit colleges should not give raises that large. (Photograph by Jim Graham)

Memberships on corporate boards offer big benefits to college presidents, but these days they also carry big risks.

The president of Suffolk University, who has been there for 52 years, is the highest-paid leader in this year's compensation survey.

Some college leaders are returning raises and bonuses in recognition of students' tough financial straits.

Leaders of master's-degree public universities earn considerably less than their counterparts at many private colleges and public research institutions.

If California leads the nation, as it's said, then community colleges in other states, too, will soon suffer shortages of presidential candidates.

Colleges lag behind corporations in terms of having the information they need to pick their leaders, say presidential-search consultants.

The husband or wife of a campus chief executive often has enough responsibility to merit not just a job description, but a salary as well.

• BY THE NUMBERS: Characteristics of presidential pay and benefits.

The presidents of the University of Washington and Washington State University are among the highest-paid college leaders in the country.

What do college presidents do, anyway? One of them, Sanford J. Ungar, offers a glimpse.

The issue is less whether most college presidents are overpaid than whether faculty and staff members are underpaid, writes Marc Bousquet.

IT'S A LIVING: A comparison of the median pay of presidents of research universities with that of chief executives in other fields and the median pay in other occupations.

Elite colleges and universities find that landing a chief executive costs more than ever in pay and benefits, with no ceiling in sight.

• DATABASE: Compensation of presidents at public institutions.
• DATABASE: Compensation of presidents at private institutions.
• KEY QUALIFICATIONS: Four presidential attributes most likely to influence boards to ante up.

The duties of many community-college presidents are as demanding as those of their counterparts at four-year colleges, but their pay lags behind.

For several reasons, many presidents lack written employment contracts.

• 2 EXAMPLES: What good contracts looks like.

Bonuses, mostly for performance and retention, are common among college presidents' pay packages. But the standards for when such bonuses are handed out are not always clear.

Five presidents talk about where their money goes.

Stephen J. Trachtenberg, retired president of George Washington University, explains why presidents are paid so much more than professors.

A PAY CUT TO DIE FOR: E. Gordon Gee jumps from private Vanderbilt to public Ohio State.

MORE DETAIL, PLEASE: A tax expert explains what's in store for the IRS Form 990, and for the people who have to fill it out.

THE BETTER HALF: Some presidential spouses are already busy with their own careers.

A Chronicle survey has found that increases in higher-education compensation are spreading from private to public institutions, with a 53-percent jump in the number of college leaders whose pay and benefits have reached at least $500,000.

• DATABASE: Compensation of presidents at 183 public institutions, 670 private colleges, 114 specialized institutions, and 33 major higher-education associations.

As established institutional leaders command higher salaries, they risk becoming hired guns.

Presidential salaries and spending compensation are showing up on front pages.

A well-thought-out contract can protect both a president and the trustees who do the hiring.

The University of California's leader responds to news-media scrutiny of administrators' pay.

In Iowa, a state board considers how to stop losing college presidents to higher-paying rivals.

RESIDENCES AND RIDES: Where college presidents live and what they drive.

PUTTING OFF PAYDAY: Deferred compensation becomes a more accepted part of presidential pay packages.

MANY HATS: The college presidency has changed, and governing boards must adapt, says the head of a panel that has studied the issue.