if we're going to complain about private sector CEO's...

From Norm Van Cott and Clarence Deitsch with Indiana Policy Review-- here as published in the Muncie Star-Press...

American college and universities feed big time at the public trough. That means billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars end up in their coffers. So why aren't the high-paid heads of these institutions receiving the same scrutiny as bank presidents?...

Higher education’s bi-weekly bible, The Chronicle of Higher Education, publishes a survey of college and university presidents’ compensation packages each year. The most recent appeared Nov. 21, 2008. Presidents were grouped by types of institution to promote comparability. Presidents at public research universities with at least 10,000 students like Ohio State University, for example, were distinguished from presidents at private universities with high research activity like the University of Chicago. (In university lingo, “research” means lots of government grants.)

The 184 public research universities had 59 presidents with 2007-2008 compensation packages worth more than $500,000. The average for this $500,000 plus club was $654,000. Of the 32 research-intensive private universities, 31 had 2006-2007 presidential compensation packages worth more than $500,000, the average being $895,000. (In case you’re wondering, the missing president in this second group was from Notre Dame. His package was worth $480,000.)...

Higher education has long occupied the role of scold, with its de facto CEOs being the high priests and priestesses of rebuke....