Data: Salaries for Mississippi college presidents ballooned as pay for faculty, staff barely kept pace with inflation

The hole between pay for college and employees and the salaries of school presidents in Mississippi is widening, in accordance with information analyzed by Mississippi In the present day. 

Whereas the common college and employees member on the state’s eight public universities have barely seen their pay, in nominal {dollars}, enhance for the reason that 2012-13 college yr, the common wage for presidents has shot up by greater than $150,000.

A number of elements are driving this development: In Mississippi, non-public college foundations complement presidential pay, typically to the tune of a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars}, whereas college and employees salaries are typically extra depending on legislative appropriations. Because the state funding for the Establishments of Increased Studying has not recovered from the Nice Recession, pay for college and employees has struggled to maintain tempo with inflation. 

The respective presidents of College of Mississippi and Mississippi State College now make $850,000 a yr, $400,000 of which comes from the faculties’ non-public foundations. That’s about double the supplemental wage the presidents in 2008 obtained, in accordance with data Mississippi In the present day obtained final yr. In keeping with that very same information, USM’s Basis paid its president $125,000 in 2008; it now pays just lately appointed Joe Paul $200,000.

Basis dietary supplements used to comprise a major chunk of presidential salaries at Mississippi’s different public universities, too, however this yr, IHL restricted the extra quantity that presidents at 4 out of the 5 colleges can obtain in basis dietary supplements to $5,000. 

The Board of Trustees elevated the state-funded wage for all 5 presidents on this group, who had beforehand been making various quantities, to $300,000. 

If the common college wage in Mississippi in 2012 – $58,896 – had elevated with inflation, it could have been about $66,300 in 2020, in accordance with a Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator, about $475 greater than the common college really made, in accordance with information from the U.S. Division of Training’s Built-in Postsecondary Training Information System (IPEDS). 

That reveals the raises IHL has procured for college since 2012 — together with this previous yr —don’t lead to extra money in pockets on common and even hold tempo with shopping for energy. 

For employees, the common wage in Mississippi – $47,612 – is definitely somewhat greater than $1,000 over the inflation-adjusted wage for 2012 ($46,234.89).

This evaluation doesn’t keep in mind variations in occupation or seniority amongst employees or college tenure standing, each of which might contribute to huge variations in salaries. On the College of Mississippi, the common tenured professor made excess of the common wage – about $115,000 through the 2020-21 college yr, in accordance with IPEDS. (The wage information from IPEDS contains the College of Mississippi Medical Heart.)

By a public data request final yr, Mississippi In the present day obtained wage information for the presidents in any respect eight public universities going again to 2008. We have up to date that information to incorporate the raises that IHL granted this yr within the searchable desk beneath.