In a time of a downward economy, you may want to aspire to be a college president.

According to a recent news report, college and university presidents seem to be making a nice sum of money for being the face of their school. And, many of them continue to receive ginormous bonuses even as many students and parents struggle to make tuition ends meet.

Despite what you may think, it’s not just private university presidents with tremendous endowment funds that have the big bankrolls. Some equal-opportunity Benjamins are being bestowed at both private and public colleges.

The Chronicle of Higher Education’s recent survey of college presidents’ salaries revealed that at public universities, 59 college presidents received more than $500,000 for the 2007-2008 school year, as compared to 43 from the year before. Similarly, the number of private college presidents who made more than $500,000 in ’07-’08 increased from 81 to 89.

Feel queasy yet as you’re calculating in your head how much more you need to meet your family’s Estimated Contribution for school? Grab the Pepto…

College Presidents by the Numbers:

Private Universities:
David J. Sargent of Suffolk University: $2,800,461
Henry S. Bienen of Northwestern University: $1,742,560
Lee C. Bollinger of Columbia University: $1,411,894
Shirley Ann Jackson of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: $1,326,774
John Sexton of New York University: $1,324,874
Amy Gutmann of the University of Pennsylvania: $1,088,786
William R. Brody of Johns Hopkins: $1,060,772
James W. Wagner of Emory: $1,040,420
Constantine N. Papadakis of Drexel: $1,021,537

Public Universities:
E. Gordon Gee of Ohio State University: $1,346,225
Mark A. Emmert of University of Washington: $887,870
John T. Casteen III of University of Virginia: $797,048

With a shaky economy, rising tuition, and more people in financial trouble, is it necessary for college and university presidents to rake in so much dough? It’s been said that because of the state of the economy now, some college presidents have turned down raises, bonuses, and other perks in exchange for the greater good of their campuses. But at what point is it too much?

What are your feelings on these presidential salaries?

-Amanda Fornecker