During Northeastern’s 2023 fiscal year, or FY 2023, — from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 — Northeastern spent $16.8 million compensating its president, top administrators and other key employees, recently-released tax filings show. 

Multiple top Northeastern officials received over $1 million in total compensation, with Northeastern President Joseph E. Aoun raking in the highest total of $2.2 million. Senior Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Thomas Nedell was compensated $1.16 million, and Senior Vice President for University Advancement Diane MacGillivray received $1.12 million in total compensation.

While the high levels of compensation occurred during a year of significant growth for the university — both financially and in popularity — they also took place as faculty pay reportedly lagged behind those at other universities and before significant budget cuts set to take place in FY 2025.

The six- and seven-figure compensation packages came amid notable advancements for the university. During FY 2023, Northeastern posted a $132 million net operating surplus, per its FY 2023 financial statements, its total net assets increased $270 million, or nearly 8%, from the prior fiscal year, it launched a $1.3 billion fundraising campaign and brought in $120 million in gifts and pledges according to a letter on the state of Northeastern’s finances written by Nedell in November 2023. 

Overseen by Northeastern’s leadership, the university was also more popular than ever before during FY 2023, receiving more than 96,000 applications for the 2023-24 academic year — the most the university had ever received up to that point. 

This broad success appears to be, in part, behind the high rates of pay for Northeastern’s key employees. 

Renata Nyul, Northeastern’s vice president for communications, told The News in a statement that senior leaders’ compensation is based on market trends and the accomplishment of long-term objectives.

“Compensation for the president and other senior leaders is the purview of the Board of Trustees, which uses a rigorous analysis of peer institutions to ensure that compensation is in tune with the market,” Nyul said in the statement. “In some years, specific individuals may receive one-time payments to acknowledge the achievement of significant multi-year goals.”

The Form 990 states that the market analysis, conducted by third-party consulting firm Willis Towers Watson, paired with recommendations from Aoun, was given to the Northeastern Board of Trustees Compensation Committee. The committee, the form states, was made up of the chair of the board, Richard D’Amore, and “four independent trustees.” The committee then voted on the recommendations, along with proposed changes, before the results were presented for a final vote to the full board. 

The form states that this process has been used to determine pay for “the president and all officers”  and “other positions including, but not limited to, deans” in certain years. Aoun did not make recommendations on his own compensation, according to the form.

D’Amore and Willis Towers Watson could not be reached for comment. 

Several other senior vice presidents, deans and a few professors each received six-figure pay during FY 2023. The Internal Revenue Service requires 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations to report in a Form 990 pay for officers, directors, trustees and key employees who receive over $150,000 in total compensation and fulfill specific responsibilities. Northeastern’s most recent filing lists 23 employees as well as dozens of uncompensated trustees.

Total compensation includes earnings from base compensation, bonus and incentive compensation, other reportable compensation, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits, which include healthcare insurance and other non-monetary contributions from the university. 

But the high levels of pay, occurring during a strong fiscal year for the university, also predated significant budget cuts administrators said will take place during FY 2025, which began July 1, 2024.

“For the coming year, FY 2025, we are projecting very robust growth … but as we began to zero in on the precise details of the forecast for the coming year, it became clear we need to make some adjustments to expenses,” Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs David Madigan said in a speech to the faculty senate in February. “To achieve sustainable growth … expense growth cannot exceed revenue growth.”

During FY 2023, the university compensated Madigan $1.04 million in total earnings in addition to providing him a $2.7 million home loan for the third consecutive year, according to the tax filings.

Nyul did not say whether pay for administrators would be impacted by the university’s budget cuts.

Many listed employees, including Aoun, saw reductions in total compensation compared to FY 2022 — partially a result of last year’s payout of deferred compensation packages and high levels of performance-based bonuses. 

While multiple individuals during the last fiscal year received six-figure levels of deferred compensation — an untaxed form of payment higher education institutions often set aside one year to pay individuals later — no one listed on the university’s Form 990 received deferred payment this year. Last year, the payout of deferred compensation was a leading driver behind Northeastern’s high levels of total compensation for senior leaders.

Every listed employee who remained in the same role for the duration of both this and the previous fiscal year saw increases in base compensation — an overall average increase of roughly 6.6%. 

But during the 2022-23 academic year —the Department of Education and other organizations reflect faculty pay by the academic year, not fiscal year — the average Northeastern faculty member’s compensation appears to have lagged behind those at similar universities. 

Per an analysis of salary data from the American Association of University Professors published by the Faculty Senate’s Financial Affairs Committee, when adjusted 25% for Boston’s cost of living, “faculty at Northeastern were underpaid last year by 13%, 13% and 16% at the ranks of Full, Associate and Assistant Professor respectively” compared to peer institutions. 

For faculty, per the university’s faculty handbook, “salary increases at the university are made on the basis of merit in the areas of teaching, research/scholarship/creative activity, and service, and/or on the basis of equity adjustment.” 

The university said through this performance-based merit pay program, over the past 20 years, it has “been able to provide Northeastern faculty and staff with pay increases aligned with the market.”

“Northeastern’s approach to compensation is market informed and driven by the need to recruit and retain talented individuals across all dimensions of the university,” Nyul said in the statement.

In comparison to FY 2022 — where the same analysis showed average salaries for full, associate and assistant professors fell 2%, 7% and 17% below average faculty pay at Northeastern’s peer institutions — the pay disparity has mostly grown between Northeastern faculty’s pay and those of comparable universities.

Meanwhile, compensation for Northeastern’s top brass met or rose above that of most administrators when compared to Boston University, Boston College, Tufts University and Brandeis University — the four Boston-area schools listed on the Financial Affairs Committee’s report of peer institutions — per The News’ analysis of each institution’s tax documents.

Northeastern’s top 10 compensated employees made, on average, $1.03 million during FY 2023. At Tufts, that number was $705,804 and at Brandeis, $570,454.

Boston College compensated its top 10 employees, on average, $1.26 million — a number that drops to $682,676 when excluding the head coaches of the college’s basketball and football teams and the football team’s defensive and offensive coordinators.

Of the Boston-area institutions noted on the Financial Affairs Committee’s list, Northeastern’s top administrators were compensated less than only Boston University, whose top 10 paid employees received, on average, approximately $1.4 million in total compensation from the university.

Specifically, Aoun’s compensation for FY 2023 would have ranked in the top 20 highest compensation rates for private university presidents the previous year, per The Chronicle of Higher Education’s analysis of FY 2022 compensation data for private university presidents. The Chronicle’s FY 2023 report has yet to be published. 

The Northeastern president’s compensation was also significantly higher than the $1.3 million received by Brandies President Ronald Liebowitz, who recently announced his resignation, or the $1.26 million Tufts compensated its former president Anthony Monaco.

However, Aoun’s pay was lower than former Boston University President Robert Brown, who received $2.6 million during FY 2023. The president of Boston College, William P. Leahy, does not receive compensation from the school — which reports indicate is the result of a religious vow of poverty.

Northeastern’s compensation data for FY 2024 is expected to be available in May 2025.