Student Debt Is Worst At Public Universities With Highly-Paid Presidents

Student debt is highest at public universities that offer larger than average executive compensation, according to a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies.

The report - titled "The One Percent at State U" - found that executive compensation was "closely related" to a number of financial issues in higher education, including student debt and low-wage faculty labor. We first saw this paper at The New York Times.

"Though it has been rising everywhere, average student debt of graduates in the top 25 public universities with the highest executive pay increased 5 percentage points more or 13% faster than the national average from summer 2006 to summer 2012," according to the IPS report.

Additionally, IPS reports that they "found that adjunct (part-time) and contingent (temporary) faculty grew much faster than the national average when executive compensation soared at the top 25."

A new report released this weekend by the Chronicle of Higher Education found that executive compensation at public universities is at an all-time high, with nine public college presidents making over $1,000,000 last year. Former Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee was the highest paid executive, making $6,057,615 in total compensation.

IPS also determined the "most unequal public universities," based on "excessive executive pay, faster than average rising student debt, inflated non-academic administrative expenditures, and large increases in low-wage and/or contingent faculty labor." Here are the top five:

1. Ohio State University
2. Pennsylvania State University
3. University of Minnesota
4. University of Michigan
5. University of Washington