Deferred payouts are key for presidents of private colleges

Bauman said.

He said average compensation grew between 2010 and 2011 by 9.2 percent.

The Chronicle conducts a separate survey of public college and university presidents in late spring or early summer each year.

Rounding out the top five nationally were Ms. Gutmann from Penn and Lee Bollinger of Columbia University, with $2,447,032 in total compensation that included $1,298,577 in base pay and $695,000 in bonus pay.

In Pennsylvania, after Ms. Gutmann, second-highest-paid was Drexel University’s John Fry at $1,284,630, including $802,218 in base pay and $465,000 in bonus and other compensation, followed by Mr. Suresh from Carnegie Mellon.

Five Pennsylvania presidents, among them Norman Hipps of Saint Vincent College, received no compensation and leaders of some other religious institutions received nominal amounts.

Among the Pittsburgh campuses, pay included: Charles Dougherty, who retired as president of Duquesne University in June and received $623,393 in total compensation in 2014, including $595,599 in base pay; and Esther Barazzone of Chatham University, who left office this past summer and made $581,713, including $515,837 in base pay.

Tori Haring-Smith, of Washington & Jefferson College, earned $512,355, including $308,781 in base pay and $122,961 in bonus pay.