Silent escalation: salaries of senior university administrators in Ontario, 1996–2006

The real compensation of senior university administrators in Ontario has increased by over 43% in the last decade. The escalation is especially pronounced for presidents and provosts: their pay has risen by 63% in real terms between 1996 and 2006. These trends have been evident in universities of all types, for both genders and for professional as well as non-professional faculties. Besides documenting this hitherto unnoticed phenomenon, we explore the determinants of this escalation. Increased university size, and the consequent complication of administrators’ duties undoubtedly plays some role in the increase, though it likely does not explain all of it. Increased competition in the market for senior administrators may be contributing to the escalation, as may heightened rent-seeking behaviour.