Executive compensation at top-tier public research universities increased 14 percent, between 2009 and 2012, and increased by a third for presidents, equaling a bump to nearly $1,000,000 in annual compensation. The ballooning of salaries for presidents at the top 25 highest-paid public-research university has coincided with student debt growth and faculty disenfranchisement for the last number of years, according to a new study published by The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). The report examined the correlation between inflated costs and the depletion of funding allotted for student scholarships, and the move toward employing part-time adjunct professors instead of permanent faculty, without offering benefits or other forms of compensation.

Ohio State University, Penn State, the University of Minnesota, University of Michigan and University of Washington were the five top-paying schools listed by the IPS, whose presidents averaged an annual $974,006 for compensation. The base pay, already at six-figures, is still just a slight part of their "total compensation" for the year -- often receiving gifts and bonuses.

In the wake of a student debt crisis, spending on nonacademic administration rose 65 percent between 2006 and 2012's fiscal year, much faster than spending for scholarships at those institutions. In 2012, student debt across the nation peaked at $1.2 trillion; and funding that could be made available for scholarships was instead piped into the bank accounts of the highest-earning presidents, whose wages increase 13 percent faster than the national average.

Part-time adjunct professors experience weak job security, inadequate pay, and absent benefits, facing the worst working conditions among their faculty peers. Part-time adjunct staff increased 22 percent faster at schools with high-earning presidents than the national average at all universities. At the same time, permanent faculty declined dramatically, and students at these schools plummeted deeper into debt. The report indicated that 71 percent of college seniors who graduated last year had student loan debt that averaged $29,400 per borrower. Research clearly stated that they believe that the dramatic rise in executive pay to "exceed pre-crisis levels" is closely related to soaring student debt and low-wage faculty labor at these institutions.

Marjorie Wood, one of the study's co-authors, told the New York Times, "High executive pay obviously isn't the direct cause of higher student debt, or cuts in labor spending. But if you think about it in terms of the allocation of resources, it does seem to be the tip of a very large iceberg, with universities that have top-heavy executive spending also having more adjuncts, more tuition increases and more administrative spending."

Thirty years ago, American state universities were accessible and affordable; presidents were "more like educational leaders than CEOs"; permanent faculty was 70 percent of instructional staff; and students rarely went into debt. The proposed solution to correct unbalanced administrative spending -- and rescue staff and students from financial isolation -- is to create a more equal university experience for all involved. Offering debt relief; pay ration requirements; support for adjunct organizing; socioeconomic, racial, and gender board diversity; and establishing spending rations in universities will discourage rapid tuition increases and will make college education more affordable for students. And, the solutions will make it a fair working environment for part-time adjunct professions and faculty staff.

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