As university presidents take on ever more corporate-style responsibilities — managing billion-dollar budgets, navigating political pressures and courting major donors — their pay packages are starting to look the part. Boards of trustees are increasingly benchmarking compensation against the private sector, arguing that the job has outgrown academia's traditional pay scales. While critics see an arms race in executive salaries, supporters see simple market logic: With a tougher job comes a bigger price tag.
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse commanded $1 million in base pay when he became president of Florida's flagship university in 2023. His pay set a record for the University of Florida and the state's public universities. Three years later, the newest UF president could make triple that.
Salaries for presidents of 49 of the nation's 50 flagship universities rose 56% in inflation-adjusted dollars in the 10 years from 2010 to 2019, to a combined $35.1 million or $716,327 on average, says researcher Judith Wilde, a professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.
Florida was one of five states whose presidential pay went up by more than 50%. "The entire C-suite, if you want to call it that, at universities and the number of people there and the salaries for those folks continue to rise," Wilde says.
She pinpoints several drivers. University board seats are held by executives of large businesses accustomed to paying CEOs big dollars. Each new president expects to make more than whoever he or she succeeds. Presidents, thanks to industry lists, know exactly what peers make and what peer institutions pay. Presidents also have noted the increasing pay and perks for coaches.
At Florida public universities, presidential pay from public funds maxes out at $200,000. The remainder is paid by foundations.
A recent trend in Florida has been the prevalence of politicians as presidents, with most drawn from the orbit of Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican Party. Florida International University's Jeanette Nuñez was DeSantis's lieutenant governor. New College's Richard Corcoran was a House Speaker and Florida's education commissioner. The University of West Florida's Manny Diaz Jr. was a legislator and state education commissioner. Florida Atlantic University's Adam Hasner was a House Majority leader.
Contracts vary. Some can earn bonuses. Others get use of a university president's house or an annual housing stipend in the tens of thousands of dollars. Auto allowances start at $1,000 a month.
Presidential pay at private universities in Florida is less transparent than at the public universities governed by the state's Public Records Law and Sunshine Law. The figures below from 20 of the state's largest private institutions come from institutional tax returns, available on ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer. As such, they date to the most recent tax filing available — the 2024 or 2025 fiscal years.
Presidents partake of the same standard benefits as other employees, though FIU president Nuñez's contract stands out for specifying she gets a $5,000 health exam.
Many get rewarded for every year they stay on the job. New College's Corcoran pulls in $200,000 in retention pay each year in addition to his bonus potential, which is tied to fundraising, a campus master plan, improved dorms and, among other goals, boosting enrollment to 1,200 by the end of his fifth year. (He became president in 2023. New College set a record for enrollment at 900 in the fall.)
Deferred compensation or supplemental retirement money is part of some but not all presidential contracts. The contract for Donald Landry, UF's interim president, specifies that if the UF board passes on him for the permanent job, he gets $2 million, the amount of his base pay, as severance.
Wilde doesn't think a slowdown in presidential pay is coming. "It's only going to continue increasing. That's the only thing we can see," she says. She notes that she and her co-author, James Finkelstein, a George Mason professor emeritus, found professor pay, in the 10 years when presidential pay soared, went up on average by $646 in constant dollars.
While presidential pay has gone up, keep in mind presidents don't draw the biggest checks on campus. In his last year as University of Miami president, Julio Frenk at $1.8 million in compensation made far less than head football coach Mario Cristobal, who pulled in $8.24 million. Frenk also trailed his successor, Joseph Echevarria, who earned $4.2 million as CEO of the university and its health system. Frenk also got paid less than the health system's urology chair, its chief of cardiac surgery, the sports medicine director, men's basketball coach James Larranaga and athletic director Dan Radakovich. Carson Beck, the Canes' quarterback in 2025, earned a reported $4 million and owned a Lamborghini.
UF's new head football coach, Jon Sumrall, averages $7.45 million — more than triple what Landry, the interim president, makes.