--- title: Only 3 of the 25 Highest-Paid Private College Presidents Are Women description: Thirty-nine private college presidents earned more than $1 million dollars in 2014, according to new data. Only seven of them were women. authors: - name: Kaitlin Mulhere role: Editor url: https://money.com/author/kaitlin-mulhere/ bio: Kaitlin Mulhere is an editor at Money.com. Since joining in 2015, she’s written and edited about a variety of personal finance topics, including banks, credit, student debt, saving strategies and more. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2015 articles: 217 covers: - Education - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/KMulhere - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlin-mulhere-64503048/ published: '2016-12-04T23:00:30.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T12:04:04.000Z' section: Education tags: - administrator salaries - college costs - college president salary - gender pay gap word_count: 472 canonical: https://money.com/private-college-president-salary-gender-gap/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![160212_COL_WOMENPRESIDENTS](https://img.money.com/2016/12/160212_col_womenpresidents.jpg) *Shirley Ann Jackson, Donna Shalala, and Amy Gutmann were the three highest earning female presidents at private colleges in 2014.* Female students have outnumbered male students on college campuses for nearly 40 years, but there's still a gender pay gap at the highest level of academia. Just three of the 25 highest-paid private college presidents are women, according The Chronicle of Higher Education’s latest [report on presidential compensation](http://chronicle.com/compensation) published today. In the top 100 earners, there are 17 women. Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania, was the highest-earning woman and the fourth highest-paid president overall. She earned total compensation of nearly $3 million in 2014, the latest year for which data is available. She’s followed by Donna E. Shalala, a former Clinton Cabinet official at the University of Miami, who ranks 11th overall, earning $1.6 million in 2014. Shirley Ann Jackson at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 19th overall, took home $1.3 million. (Full chart below.) They are three of the seven female leaders of private universities who earned more than $1 million. Overall, 39 private college presidents reached the $1 million benchmark, up from 32 in the 2013 report. [Research](http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Documents/Higher-Ed-Spotlight-Pipelines-Pathways-and-Institutional-Leadership-Status-of-Women.pdf) in 2011 by the American Council on Education found that 24% of private university presidents were women, and 38% of chief academic officers were women. The numbers at public colleges were somewhat higher, with 30% of college presidents who are female and 48% of chief academic officers. Overall, The Chronicle found that average compensation for private college presidents who served a full year in 2014 was $531,817, up 8.6% from the year before. Compensation figures include salaries and bonuses; benefits such as housing, travel, and club memberships; and often deferred payments that are promised for future years as an incentive for presidents to stay in their role. On average, about three-quarters of private college presidents’ income came in the form of base pay. *The* *Chronicle* published the latest data on the salaries of public college presidents earlier this year. For the 2014-15 academic year, the [median pay was $431,000](https://money.com/college-presidents-pay-rises/). Again, three of the top 25 earners were women. **The 10 Highest-Earning Female Private College Presidents** | Overall rank | President | College | Total Compensation | Base Salary | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 4 | Amy Gutmann | Univ. of Pennsylvania | $2,962,708 | $1,216,096 | | 11 | Donna E. Shalala | Univ. of Miami | $1,570,761 | $1,095,833 | | 19 | Shirley Ann Jackson | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | $1,331,172 | $1,000,000 | | 29 | Barbara R. Snyder | Case Western Reserve Univ. | $1,154,775 | $718,493 | | 43 | Drew Gilpin Faust | Harvard Univ. | $969,830 | $810,884 | | 58 | Kimberly R. Cline | Long Island Univ. at Brooklyn | $859,494 | $739,949 | | 64 | Nancy Cantor\* | Syracuse Univ. | $823,959 | $0 | | 67 | Mary E. Lyons | Univ. of San Diego | $775,790 | $495,442 | | 69 | MaryAnn Baenninger\* | College of Saint Benedict | $760,630 | $643,331 | | 71 | Rebecca S. Chopp\* | Swarthmore College | $751,512 | $421,056 | *\* These three presidents served in the roles listed for part of 2014 before starting—and earning a salary at—different colleges. 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