That's A Salary Cap: CSU Presidents Will Rake In No More Than $325K

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Remember when California State University (CSU) tuition increased 12% last year? And remember when a $400,000 salary package was approved for Elliot Hirshman, San Diego State University's new president? How about the devastating $500-million cut from the CSU system last January? Well, Californians didn't take to any of that news too well, and as a triumphant result, the CSU board of trustees has capped off salaries for newly hired campus presidents at $325,000.

Approved by the board without comment on Wednesday, the new policy, according to Sacramento Bee, will establish a salary ceiling of $325,000 or raise the salary by no more than 10% of the outgoing president's annual pay. If you recall, Hirshman's salary totaled more than $100,000 of his predecessor's, making him the highest paid CSU president. Why the exorbitant bonus? A 2011 report showed that CSU presidents are underpaid compared with other national university leaders. A state legislative analyst disputed the report, stating the institutions chosen skewed the average salary upward. Governor Jerry Brown even questioned the steep raise in a letter to the chairman of the board last summer.

Today's decision follows the introduction of two bills in the state Senate to limit presidents' salaries. Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco introduced one of the bills, and while he praised the boards' decision, he feels the trustees could have done more. "Those making hundreds of thousands of dollars should not receive double-digit pay increases during bad budget times or when students are forced to foot the bill," Yee said.

Sacramento Bee outlines the two pieces of legislation as follows, detailing Yee's bill first:

He has introduced legislation, SB 967, to prohibit pay raises for top university administrators during bad budget years or when student fees are increased. The bill will also stipulate that incoming executives can receive only 5 percent more than their predecessors.

Another legislator, Sen. Ted Lieu, who sponsored another bill, SB 959 - to limit raises, give priority to local candidates and require executive pay decisions to be made in open session - had expressed outrage over Hirshman's compensation package at a time when students are being asked to pay more for their education to make up for state funding cuts.