UPDATED: April 26, 2016 at 12:34 p.m.

Former Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor made about 342 percent more than the median salary of a private college president in 2012, according to a recently released study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

The median salary of a private college or university president was $301,153, the study found, which ranks well into the 99th percentile of compensation for wage earners in the United States. Cantor made $1,028,969 in total compensation in 2012, according to the most recent IRS 990 tax form available.

“The (former) president of Syracuse makes more than the presidents of most private universities,” said Peter Hinrichs, the main researcher involved in the study.

The authors of the study analyzed the 990 tax return forms from 692 four-year, nonprofit private colleges from the 2012-13 fiscal year.

Reducing the salaries of college presidents by itself would not lower tuition, but lowering the salaries of many administrators might broadly help, the study found. SU, though, has been increasing the amount of money spent on raises for administrators, according to a 2014 report from consulting firm Bain & Co. The report found that the money spent by SU on raises for administrators has increased 10.7 percent from 2007 to 2013.

Hinrichs said presidents of research universities tend to make more money in comparison to presidents of small liberal arts schools. In February, SU was ranked a top tier research institution by the 2015 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Interim Vice Chancellor and Provost Liz Liddy told The Daily Orange in March that administrators want SU to become a “pre-eminent student-focused research university.”

“Pay generally rises with how involved the university is with research,” Hinrichs said.

As a major research university, Cantor earned a salary that aligned with the presidents of comparable research universities, Hinrichs added.

Hinrichs declined to comment about the future of presidents’ salaries and whether they should be expected to rise or fall in the future. He also declined to speak about the role of higher education in the upcoming election.

“Rising costs of college is a complicated issue,” Hinrichs said. “And I don’t know if there are any easy fixes.”

Published on April 25, 2016 at 8:35 pm

Contact Kenneth: kmintz@syr.edu