College Presidents Who Make Over $1 Million

They say that private education is a high paying and growing job market today. Well, for 23 college presidents, this is definitely true. These presidents, who all are employed by private, non-profit colleges and universities, make more than one million dollars every year, according to a report released by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The five highest paid college presidents are:
1. Shirley Ann Jackson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: $1,598,247
2. David Sargent, Suffolk University: $1,496,593
3. Steadman Upham, University of Tulsa: $1,485,275
4. Richard Meyers, Webster University: $1,429,738
5. Cornelius Kerwin, American University: $1,419,339
The total compensation for all 23 presidents averaged $627,750, which is an increase of 15.5 percent from the previous year. Something else that has been rising in the past few years is the cost of attending college. The cost of attending college, which includes college tuition, fees, room, and board, increased more than four percent during the same year.
The presidents interviewed for this survey expressed concern over what the survey revealed.
“They are worried about how the public perceives a high salary at a time when budgets are being slashed and tuition continues to increase,” says Chronicle editor, Jeffrey Selingo.
I think they should definitely be concerned over this. My personal opinion is that instead of padding their own salaries, perhaps these large sums of money could be applied towards campus improvements, building libraries that have expensive cheap textbooks available to students, or even just lowering tuition.
What do you think? Are these college presidents earning too high of a salary or are their wages justifiable?
If you have an opinion about this matter, post it below.
Via USA Today