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Administrators' raises are getting larger again. The median salary increased by 3.5 percent during this academic year, compared to a 3.3 percent last year and a 2.5 percent increase the previous year. The 3.5 percent increase equals that of 2002-3.
The data are from an annual survey conducted by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, which has been releasing annual data on administrative salaries since 1967 and released the latest information today.
As with just about everything in higher education, not all medians go up by the same percentage. Private institutions had a slight edge on public institutions in median salary increases (3.6 percent to 3.5 percent), continuing a trend of recent years.
There was greater variation in the size of the median salary increase when examining institutions by degrees awarded and job categories within institutions. In the former category, doctoral institutions and community colleges fared best -- with both reporting median salary increases for administrators of 3.7 percent. Master's and bachelor's granting institutions, along with specialized institutions, lagged, at 3.5 percent.
The public-private gaps were greatest at the master's and bachelor's institutions. The median administrator salary increased by 3.8 percent at private master's institutions and 3.5 percent at private bachelor's institutions, compared to equivalent public increases of 3.2 and 3.1 percent, respectively.
In terms of types of administrative positions, executives saw the biggest gains this year, with the median salary going up by 4.0 percent. Median increases for administrative positions were up by an average of 3.7 percent, followed by academic affairs, external relations, and student affairs -- all at 3.5 percent.
Data from CUPA-HR indicate the significant ranges among various kinds of positions. For example, among deans, the highest medians are for medicine ($316,700), dentistry ($244,394) and public health ($231,474). The lowest medians were for occupational studies and vocational education ($79,845), special programs ($83,581), and mathematics ($85,632).
The following table shows medians for selected institutions:
Median Base Salary for Selected Positions, by Institution Type
| Position | Doctoral | Master's | Bachelor's | 2-Year | All |
| Executive | |||||
| --CEO, system | $311,000 | $168,077 | n/a | $201,135 | $243,000 |
| --CEO, campus | 295,008 | 200,000 | $195,500 | 141,685 | 192,155 |
| --Asst. to campus CEO | 114,190 | 82,144 | 74,000 | 68,395 | 85,672 |
| --Executive VP | 247,851 | 141,908 | 118,800 | 113,600 | 141,908 |
| Academic deans, directors | |||||
| --Chief academic officer | 233,196 | 140,000 | 121,868 | 99,648 | 133,744 |
| --Director, library svcs. | 137,754 | 81,100 | 65,645 | 65,330 | 77,373 |
| --Director, instit. research | 96,720 | 71,765 | 65,600 | 65,650 | 75,000 |
| --Director, intl. ed | 95,391 | 67,500 | 65,000 | 68,012 | 73,576 |
| --Director, academic computing | 109,527 | 74,666 | 66,532 | 72,388 | 78,757 |
| --Dean, agriculture | 185,877 | 119,612 | 77,136 | n/a | 160,032 |
| --Dean, arts & sciences | 174,310 | 112,625 | 90,350 | 75,627 | 117,625 |
| --Dean, business | 208,151 | 126,871 | 82,387 | 78,030 | 127,204 |
| --Dean, education | 152,823 | 106,072 | 72,188 | 70,000 | 113,105 |
| --Dean, engineering | 201,977 | 142,230 | 104,571 | 81,381 | 173,279 |
| --Dean, graduate programs | 147,183 | 96,351 | 90,721 | n/a | 115,000 |
| Admin. | |||||
| --Chief business officer | 188,145 | 133,250 | 119,706 | 97,020 | 130,770 |
| --Chief financial officer | 165,254 | 110,000 | 99,500 | 89,174 | 112,856 |
| --Chief investment officer | 200,000 | 78,719 | 124,000 | 88,435 | 135,179 |
| --Director, networking & telecomm. | 102,590 | 73,000 | 67,644 | 70,895 | 78,976 |
| --General counsel | 156,000 | 110,286 | 118,322 | 119,886 | 135,602 |
| --Chief HR officer | 121,000 | 82,400 | 67,650 | 79,236 | 85,000 |
| --Director, affirmative action & equal opport. | 96,245 | 77,972 | 80,986 | 80,438 | 87,360 |
| --Chief, physical plant | 128,994 | 86,000 | 73,734 | 70,715 | 86,000 |
| --Comptroller | 115,156 | 82,000 | 73,500 | 74,315 | 83,300 |
| --Bursar | 80,856 | 55,035 | 46,830 | 59,199 | 59,036 |
| External affairs | |||||
| --Chief development officer | 186,759 | 118,822 | 110,518 | 79,630 | 118,500 |
| --Director, annual giving | 72,100 | 54,866 | 52,403 | 54,221 | 57,198 |
| --Chief public relations officer | 132,290 | 73,626 | 66,235 | 62,335 | 78,856 |
| --Director, government relations | 125,000 | 89,699 | 69,395 | 98,206 | 108,258 |
| --Director, alumni affairs | 93,784 | 57,192 | 52,359 | 50,451 | 60,500 |
| --Director, publications | 73,150 | 55,097 | 52,100 | 58,630 | 59,682 |
| --Director, news bureau | 63,480 | 46,977 | 47,810 | 60,191 | 52,726 |
| --Director, marketing | 77,437 | 68,213 | 63,086 | 59,675 | 68,250 |
| Student affairs | |||||
| --Chief student aff. officer | 161,000 | 109,000 | 95,000 | 89,174 | 104,916 |
| --Dean, students | 97,274 | 74,000 | 62,550 | 77,481 | 78,963 |
| --Chief admissions officer | 96,757 | 71,100 | 69,001 | 60,825 | 75,000 |
| --Director, academic advising | 71,312 | 56,243 | 51,333 | 60,049 | 52,976 |
| --Registrar | 86,311 | 65,454 | 56,850 | 52,638 | 63,023 |
| --Director, financial aid | 87,229 | 66,950 | 61,565 | 61,901 | 66,147 |
| --Director, student counseling | 82,891 | 62,068 | 57,512 | 63,824 | 66,839 |
| --Director, campus ministries | 75,201 | 51,483 | 51,775 | 43,828 | 52,893 |
| --Director, athletics | 167,200 | 85,819 | 72,216 | 62,444 | 86,350 |
| --Chief, enrollment mgmt. | 120,500 | 100,000 | 97,335 | 69,708 | 99,920 |
| --Director, minority affairs | 68,340 | 50,474 | 47,731 | 52,756 | 53,648 |
Executive summaries of the CUPA-HR report and instructions on ordering the full report are available on the organization's Web site. Click on "surveys" and then "salary surveys 2005" to find the correct information.
