Georgia’s public university presidents to get $5,000 raises

The presidents of the system’s three other research schools are the next highest-paid on the list. Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera will make $980,000. Georgia State University President M. Brian Blake is third, at $955,000. The University of Georgia’s Jere Morehead is the fourth highest-paid president, at nearly $917,000.

The total compensation includes deferred pay and allowances.

There’s a major gap between those four presidents and the next highest-paid presidents in the system. Georgia Southern University President Kyle Marrero and Kennesaw State University President Kathy Schwaig are next at $490,000. Both schools are designated by the system as comprehensive and not research universities.

The 19 other system presidents make between $246,120 and $365,400.

The new salaries take effect for most of the presidents on July 1.

The regents on Tuesday named Mike Hobbs as the sole finalist for the presidential vacancy at Georgia Highlands College. He’s the vice president for student affairs and athletic director at Jefferson State Community College in Birmingham, Alabama.

Georgia lawmakers earlier this year approved $5,000 cost-of-living raises for most state workers, including those in the University System.

The regents did not approve raises the last two years as many students and their families struggled to pay tuition and other college expenses during the economic downturn created by the COVID-19 pandemic.