Many private college presidents make $1 million • Hacker News Board

Re: Many private college presidents make $1 million

#41

Post by barrkel » Mon, Dec 16, 2013, 6:18 PM UTC

notdrunkatall wrote: post #16

Supply and demand, supply and demand, supply and demand. I wish more people understood this most basic law of economics. If the supply of people who are both willing and able to handle the position of university President is low, wages (which are the price of labor) will rise, thus enticing those who are able but not willing to meet the demand. The prevailing average wage rate for university Presidents is simply a re…

If there are a lot of people looking for an assassin, and there are only a few reliable assassins, the cost of an assassin will be high, and good assassins will make a lot of money.

Does this mean that assassins making lots of money is morally justified? Does it mean that assassins are good for society, or that they deserve their pay?

Of course not. It means none of these things. Markets are amoral. Supply and demand have no moral content. Articles like this appeal to a moral logic, not an economic logic, and they are not wrong to do so.

There are other reasons why college presidents are scarce; colleges are scarce. And it's not like a thousand new colleges can spring up tomorrow to address this scarcity, because colleges have value based on social and network effects like reputation and association with elite social classes. Colleges can extract rents due their relative social position; these rents may even be immoral. I believe colleges are aware of this, and try to whitewash it with grants and aid, but is it enough?

I think you're treating the issue way too flippantly, and yes, simplistically.

Re: Many private college presidents make $1 million

#42

Post by Nicholas_C » Mon, Dec 16, 2013, 6:23 PM UTC

jmduke wrote: post #8

This isn't an issue, despite the article's implication otherwise. Being a president of a college isn't exactly a low-impact position: in addition to being a public emissary to the college, they send the majority of their time on the road, raising money for their endowment. Colleges who offer poor compensation for their presidents will generally receive a commensurate return on their investment (though I'd love to see…

>I recommend faculty-to-administrator ratio as a jumping-off point.

Anyone have an idea as to where I can get this data for US universities? Google yields some studies, but I'd like to see a list of each university's ratio.

Re: Many private college presidents make $1 million

#43

Post by callmeed » Mon, Dec 16, 2013, 6:30 PM UTC

Not surprised. Also, why single out private presidents?

FYI most California Community College presidents (and there are over 100 of them) make $200-300K per year.

The UC system president gets a $570K salary, a $10K/month housing stipend, and $9k/year vehicle stipend [1].

[1] http://articles.latimes.com/2013/sep/16/local/la-me-ln-uc-re...

Re: Many private college presidents make $1 million

#44

Post by scpotter » Mon, Dec 16, 2013, 8:03 PM UTC

Nicholas_C wrote: post #42

jmduke wrote: post #8

This isn't an issue, despite the article's implication otherwise. Being a president of a college isn't exactly a low-impact position: in addition to being a public emissary to the college, they send the majority of their time on the road, raising money for their endowment. Colleges who offer poor compensation for their presidents will generally receive a commensurate return on their investment (though I'd love to see…

>I recommend faculty-to-administrator ratio as a jumping-off point. Anyone have an idea as to where I can get this data for US universities? Google yields some studies, but I'd like to see a list of each university's ratio.

I'm not sure if you'll be able to find the administrative numbers. First stop would be the Education Department's IPEDS database. The Carnegie Foundation would be the next place, although it is classification (high/low, etc) not primary data, it might meet your needs or point you to another data source.

Re: Many private college presidents make $1 million

#45

Post by bradleyjg » Tue, Dec 17, 2013, 12:39 AM UTC

humanrebar wrote: post #40

bradleyjg wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That makes sense when the product in question faces a market test, but here that condition doesn't apply. Almost all universities are organized such that they are run by perpetual boards of directors, with only nominal oversight by a state AG. The selection process for such board seats is not designed, nor does it, produce members whose incentives are identical to a hypothetical person privately purchasing college pr…

How is this different than politics or nepotism within a private corporation or charity? What about postsecondary education will keep larger market forces (i.e., attendance rates and donation levels) from solving this problem?

Educational markets move very slowly because almost all the value in a degree comes from reputation effects, and those are mostly solidified for each person when he is young. So they change as people die off rather than as the underlying res changes.

Re: Many private college presidents make $1 million

#46

Post by cafard » Tue, Dec 17, 2013, 1:09 AM UTC

cantbecool wrote: post #15

This is sensationalism. There are many college athletic coaches in state schools being compensated over a million a year. Look at the recent contract extension of Nick Saban at the University of Alabama.

A cousin who is a professor once mentioned that the basketball coach was by far the highest-paid employee at her university. I understood the faculty's resentment, but said that the coach was also about the easiest one to fire based on results.