30 private-college presidents in U.S. earn over $1M

Long Island came close to having its own million-dollar college president in 2008, according to Chronicle of Higher Education figures released Monday.

The Chronicle found that 30 private-college presidents across the country earned more than $1 million in the 2008 calendar year, including the heads of Columbia University, New York University and the New School.

Hofstra's Stuart Rabinowitz received a total compensation package of $956,263.

The highest-paid president nationwide in 2008, the latest year for which figures are available, was Bernard Lander, the late founder and president of Touro College, which reported his total compensation as $4,786,830.

That figure included more than $4 million in deferred compensation from trustees, who decided, after commissioning a consulting firm to analyze his salary and benefits over the previous four decades, that he had been "substantially undercompensated" during his tenure, the college said in a statement yesterday.

At the time of his death in February at age 94, he had received $900,000 of that deferred payment, the university said. The rest, minus $205,750 in repayment of a loan from the college to Lander for the purchase of a home, will be paid to his estate, the university said.

Hofstra's tax filings show that in 2008, Rabinowitz's total earnings included a $175,000 bonus, $220,700 in "other compensation" such as off-campus housing, $35,514 in deferred compensation and $19,718 in nontaxable benefits. His base salary was listed as $505,331.

By comparison, Stony Brook University president Samuel L. Stanley Jr. earns $650,000 a year, including deferred compensation, from public and private funds, said university spokeswoman Lauren Sheprow. He also has the use of the university house and car, the dollar-value figures for which were not available Monday.

Marilyn Monter, chairwoman of Hofstra's board of trustees, noted that in 2008 the school under Rabinowitz's leadership completed a $100 million capital campaign, hosted a presidential debate and announced the launch of a new medical school.

His compensation package, she said in a statement, "includes a housing allowance since, unlike many other universities, he is not provided with university housing."

She said the board retains a consultant and analyzes comparable salary data, including the compensation of presidents of similar universities.

The 2008 tax filings reflect new disclosure requirements from the federal government, which now mandates that private colleges and universities report more details on perks, including expense accounts and the annual rental value of university-owned homes.

Adelphi University president Robert Scott earned $588,347 in 2008, including $9,887 in fringe benefits such as health and life insurance, $118,083 in retirement benefits and $70,100 in nontaxable benefits for living in a university-owned house on campus, said Adelphi spokeswoman Lori Duggan Gold.