Eleven Rutgers University employees are set to earn at least $1 million in 2024, an NJ Advance Media review of the school’s top salaries revealed.
Greg Schiano, the winningest head coach in university history, will be the highest-paid employee at $6.25 million after signing a seven-year extension that increased his base salary by $2.25 million.
A pair of football assistant coaches — offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca and defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak — are also among the 11 employees who will earn at least $1 million.
They all make more than Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway, the 22nd-highest paid employee with a 2024 base salary of $888,540. The average salary for Holloway’s 16-person cabinet is $556,562.
“The salaries of these coaches and medical professionals are reflective of the marketplace and are commensurate with the salaries paid to their counterparts at peer institutions,” the university said in a statement.
NJ Advance Media obtained the Rutgers salary database last month through an Open Public Records Act request. The ledger shows the base salaries for all 37,325 employees at the New Brunswick, Camden and Newark campuses.
More than 44% of Rutgers’ $5.4 billion budget for 2023-24 is dedicated to base salaries across the university, the analysis shows.
The combined salaries for all Rutgers employees is $2.45 billion, a 17% increase from the $2.09 billion expected to be paid last year.
The database doesn’t include potential bonuses, which account for increased expenditures annually. In 2023, 115 employees earned a total of $1.57 million in bonuses.
The university’s budget is financed through a mix of taxpayer and private funds, including a 21.4% subsidy from the state.
The average salary for the 17 Scarlet Knights head coaches in non-revenue sports is $191,172, while the median salary for the 4,276 full-time, salaried professors is $189,462.
Overall, the average salary for the 20,405 full-time, salaried employees is $104,598. This cohort includes everyone from athletic coaches and administrators, academic department deans and doctors at the medical schools to custodians, secretaries and teaching assistants.
Of the 139 Rutgers employees who will earn a base salary of $500,000 or more, eight are affiliated with Rutgers athletics, including five football staff members.
Men’s basketball coach Steve Pikiell is the university’s second-highest paid employee at $3.25 million.
Brian Strom, the chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, has the school’s 12th-highest base salary at $999,080.
Francine Conway, chancellor of Rutgers-New Brunswick, earns $565,513, while Rutgers-Camden Chancellor Antonio Tillis earns $414,740. Former Rutgers-Newark Chancellor Nancy Cantor was slated to earn $504,872.
New Jersey ranks as the 11th most expensive state to live in, according to cost-of-living index scores compiled by the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center.
Here is the list of the 11 Rutgers employees with base salaries topping $1 million in 2024:
1. Greg Schiano, head football coach: $6.25 million
2. Steve Pikiell, head basketball coach: $3.25 million
3. Leonard Lee, RWJ surgery-chairman: $2.26 million
4. Robert Gross, RWJ neurosurgery: $2.175 million
5. Kirk Ciarrocca, offensive coordinator: $1.4 million
6. Joe Harasymiak, defensive coordinator: $1.25 milllion
7. Richard Louis Agag, RWJ plastic surgery: $1.063 million
8. Jean Anderson Eloy, NJMS-ENT-otolaryngology: $1.062 million
9. Joseph Benevenia, NJMS-orthopaedics: $1.046 million
10. Patrick Hobbs, athletics director: $1.01 million
11. Bruce Haffty, CINJ-radiation oncology: $1 million
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Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com.