Top Administrative Salaries Over Twice National Median

Last year, Georgetown administrators raked in over twice as much as their peers in equal positions at doctorate-granting institutions, according to data obtained by The Hoya.

Eleven top administrators earned an average of 202 percent more than the national median salary, according to analysis of the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources Administrative Compensation Survey and university financial disclosure documents.

The CUPA-HR survey includes data from fiscal year 2010 for 225 public and private institutions across the country that award Ph.D. degrees. Georgetown, as well as many other top-25 ranked institutions, participated in the survey.

University spokeswoman Stacy Kerr said that the survey does not provide an accurate comparison of administrative salaries among schools, however.

"Georgetown uses a variety of sources, and CUPA-HR is not representative of our peer organizations, and therefore, does not give an accurate representation," she said.

Kerr emphasized the importance of analyzing Georgetown's differences from specific peer institutions like The George Washington University, which has a larger student body and higher tuition fees. She said that the CUPA-HR survey is too far-reaching.

"It's like comparing apples to oranges," Kerr said.

The salary topping the disparities was that of former Vice President for Advancement James Langley, who earned $423,011 in 2010 — over four times the national median salary for a comparable administrative position.

Likewise, former Chief Investment Officer Larry Kochard earned $604,317 in the last fiscal year, receiving more than three times the national median compensation.

In comparison, Carnegie Mellon, a private peer institution ranked immediately below Georgetown in the U.S. News and World Report college rankings, paid its former chief investment officer $295,552 last year, 1.54 times the national median. Meanwhile, the University of Notre Dame, positioned three notches higher than Georgetown in the U.S. News rankings, paid its CIO $1,532,859, in 2010 — 8.24 times the national median.

As the highest-paid administrator on the Hilltop, University President John J. DeGioia earned $756,219, just over twice the national median. Like all the salaries examined, these earnings do not include bonuses and additional benefits, which for DeGioia totaled over $150,000.

A public peer institution, the University of California, Berkeley, paid its president $277,140 in 2010 — 27 percent below the national median.