North Carolina's 7 Highest-Paid Public College Officials

NORTH CAROLINA — The highest-paid chief executive at a public college in North Carolina made more than $893,000 in 2018, according to new figures from The Chronicle of Higher Education. A handful of coaches made salaries that were more than $2 million.

Updated in July, data from The Chronicle of Higher Education includes the 2018 chief executive compensation figures from 269 U.S. colleges.

In North Carolina, Margaret Spellings — president of the University of North Carolina system until 2018 — was the highest-paid for the 2018 calendar year among the state's public college chief executive officers. She earned a base salary of $775,000; bonus pay of $95,000; and nontaxable benefits of $23,631. That brought her total compensation to $893,631.

Spellings announced her resignation at an emergency board of governors session in October 2018, according to UNC student newspaper The Daily Tar Heel, which reported she simply said: "It's the right time for me" to leave the 17-campus university system, three years after starting.

Spellings was one of three UNC officials earning more than $800,000 in calendar year 2018.

Chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill Carol L. Folt had a total compensation of $869,663. Her base salary was $721,089; she had nontaxable benefits valued at $111,004; and there was $37,570 in "other pay," including a car and house benefit.

Chancellor of North Carolina State University W. Randolph Woodson's total compensation was $866,723, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. He had a base bay of $656,315; bonus pay of $200,000; nontaxable benefits of $6,004; and "other pay" of $4,404.

Here are the top-paid officials at North Carolina's public colleges, according to The Chronicle:

1. Margaret Spellings, president of the University of North Carolina system, $893,631
2. Carol L. Folt, chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill, $869,663
   • Head Football Coach Herbert L. Fedora Jr., $2,531,157
   • Head Men's Basketball Coach Roy A. Williams, $2,259,603. According to USA Today, he actually makes at least $3.9 million, including pay for staying on through the last day of the season. He is listed as the 7th highest-paid NCAA men's basketball coach by the paper.
3. W. Randolph Woodson, chancellor of North Carolina State University, $866,723
   • Head Football Coach David Doeren, $3,296,462
   • Head Men's Basketball Coach Kevin A. Keatts, $2,397,342
   • Athletic Director Deborah A. Yow, $1,065,297
4. Cecil P. Staton, chancellor of East Carolina University, $578,627
5. Philip L. Dubois, chancellor of UNC-Charlotte, $506,199
   • Head Football coach at UNC-Charlotte Brad L. Lambert, $610,076
   • Basketball coach at UNC-Charlotte Ronald Sanchez, $531,895
6. Franklin D. Gilliam, chancellor of UNC-Greensboro, $407,792
7. Harold L. Martin, chancellor of North Carolina A&T State University, $393,881

Below each top public-college executive official is listed any who is paid more than that person at the university, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The highest paid public college official in the country for the 2018 calendar year was Chancellor of The University of Texas System William H. McRaven, The Chronicle found. McRaven earned a base salary of $600,413, a bonus of $678,985 and over $1.2 million in “other pay,” bringing his total compensation up to $2,578,609. Mark Houser, Chief Executive Officer of University Lands for the University of Texas System was paid $4,618,026.

See the full list of the highest-paid public-college officials in the United States.