What Emerson's Tuition Buys

College President Jay Bernhardt, whose short tenure has seen a slide in enrollment, cherry-picked firing of staff, a harsh crackdown on free speech, and the arrests of 130 protesters, was paid nearly two-thirds of a million dollars last year, according to public forms filed by the college.

Bernhardt received a total compensation of $657,643 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024.   That included salary and benefits totaling  $512,601 and “other compensation” of $145,042.

According to a chart compiled by the jobs site ZipRecruiter, the average college president’s salary in Massachusetts is $204,185.  According to a  2024 article in The Boston Business Journal, 13 Massachusetts college presidents earned $1 million or more.

Last week, Harvard’s president, Alan Gerber, offered to take a 25% pay cut because of pressure on the college’s finances. Though Gerber’s salary was not disclosed,  former Harvard President Claudine Gay earned $1.3 million in 2023, according to the Harvard Crimson.

At Emerson, the “other compensation” awarded Bernhardt includes housing at a luxury condo. Weeks after Bernhardt took office, the college bought a $5.25 million condo at the Ritz-Carlton Residences for its president, according to the Boston Globe. The Globe reported that the Ritz residences “include Brazilian Cherry hardwood flooring, floor-to-ceiling windows, and valet parking. Residents have access to a gym, cafe, and martini bar, and the condos share ‘five star services’ with the hotel, including room service and cleaning.”

Bernhardt flies first-class on travel, the college’s tax form noted, and he may give the same privileges to vice-presidents.

The 64-page form 990 made public Friday shows a sharp drop in net income in fiscal 2023-24 for the college from about $13 million the previous year, but the college still had a net income of nearly $3 million more than expenses.  Emerson is a private college, but operates on a non-profit status, so it does not pay taxes and the income remains with the college.

The biggest rise in costs – about $15 million—came from increased salaries. The full-time faculty, part-time faculty and Resident Assistants’ unions all reached contract agreements with the college last year, though some of the increased pay raises did not take effect during fiscal 2024.

But the salary expense increase was mostly offset by a $6 million rise in tuition and room and board revenue,  and nearly $8 million boost in investment profits.

The federal form shows that in Bernhardt’s first full year as president, his reported compensation was significantly less than his two predecessors, possibly reflecting his lack of experience in running a college.

William Gilligan had been at Emerson for 37 years when he became interim president from 2021 to 2023. Gilligan was compensated about $998,000 in fiscal 2022-23.  His predecessor, Lee Pelton, came to Emerson in 2011 already having served as a college president for 13 years. In his final year, Pelton received compensation of about $912,000, according to federal financial filings. Bernhardt, picked after a troubled search by the Emerson Board of Trustees, was one of 19 deans at the University of Texas at Austin and had no prior experience running a college.

Emerson’s fiscal 2023-24 report indicates it collected $5.6 million in non-government “contributions, gifts, grants” last year, compared to $6 million the year before. The federal form indicates the college had $9.5 million in “pledges and grants receivable” at year end, and about $4 million at the beginning of Bernhardt’s tenure.  The names of donors to the college were not disclosed on the form.

The college listed an end-of-year balance of its endowment fund at $265 million, boosted by a $9 million increase in investment profits. It is  slightly above the median endowment fund found in a national study by university business officers.  The tax form indicates  the endowment is invested in “approximately 198 individual funds”  but does not list them or detail them.  Critics have challenged many colleges to disclose their endowments and to get out of funds that enable war violence such as that being perpetrated by Israel, or that aggravate global pollution, but many colleges have resisted.

The college reported it gave out $74.5 million in student aid, an increase of 4.4 % over the previous year.