Penn State Executive Highest Paid in Country: Report

A former Penn State president is the highest paid public university executive in the nation, according to a new report by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Rodney A. Erickson, who served as Penn State president from 2011 to 2014, had a total compensation of $1.49 million in 2014, according to the Chronicle of High Education’s new report, which was released Sunday.

Erickson, the university’s 17th president, was one of two public univeristy presidents who earned more than $1 million in 2014. Texas A&M University’s R. Bowen Loftin made $1.13 million in total compensation last year, the report shows.

The median salary for presidents who served a full year is $428,250, according to the report.

The Chronicle’s recently-released data provides information on 238 chief executives at 220 public universities in the United States.

The last time the Chronicle analyzed private college presidents was 2012. That report, which looked at the compensation of executives at 497 private nonprofit colleges, found that 36 presidents earned at least $1 million.