photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod speaks at the FBI and KU Cybersecurity Conference on April 4, 2025.

UPDATED 2:25 P.M. JUNE 27

University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod will receive a 12% pay increase for the new budget year that begins in July, pushing his total salary to $1 million when both state and private funds are combined.

The Kansas Board of Regents on Friday approved salary increases ranging from 4% to 12% for the leaders of the state’s six public universities.

At a special meeting on Friday, Regents Chair Carl Ice said the pay increases were appropriate, given the broad impact the chancellor and presidents can have on the missions of their universities, which he said are critical to advancing prosperity in the state.

“Leaders matter,” Ice said. “Leaders set a vision, visions that are compelling. They help support and unlock people to bring their talents towards those visions.”

However, the salary increases — which the Regents consider each June as universities get ready to begin their new school years — come at a time of growing uncertainty for the higher education industry. The Trump administration is working to implement changes to federal grants for research universities, which would greatly limit how much universities are reimbursed for overhead expenses related to research activities. KU has estimated those changes — which have been challenged in court — could have a $40 million budget impact on KU and the KU Medical Center, if implemented.

The changing landscape of major college athletics also is expected to create budget challenges. KU recently confirmed it expects the changes that allow universities to pay student-athletes will reduce general operating revenues for the university by about $10 million next year. That and other financial challenges led KU to recently announce a 20% cut in travel budgets, various departmental budget cuts and the prospect of a reduction in employee totals to stave off a projected $20 million deficit next year.

Additionally, KU has multiple employee unions that have made pay and compensation issues for faculty, staff and other rank-and-file employees a top concern. KU is still bargaining with those groups.

It was uncertain how Regents would address pay raises for university leaders this year. The Regents were scheduled to vote on salaries for the upcoming school year at a June 12 meeting, but unexpectedly tabled that decision. Instead, the board approved a new policy on how university CEOs should be compensated, creating several new metrics and stating that “internal equity is a foundational principle.” The Regents then met again at a special meeting on June 20, but again tabled the compensation issue after meeting about it in a closed-door executive session.

As the leader of the state’s largest university, Girod has long been the highest paid university CEO among the state’s public institutions. He remains so with the latest increases. The 12% increase brings Girod’s total salary — a combination of state funds and private funds — to $1,000,000, Here’s a look at the total salaries — which also include a mix of state and private funds — of the other university CEOs, and the percentage increase they received.

• Richard Linton, Kansas State: $750,000, up 5%

• Richard Muma, Wichita State: $635,000, up 4%

• Tisa Mason, Fort Hays State: $355,000, up 7%

• Ken Hush, Emporia State: $370,000, up 4%

Regents are in the process of finalizing a salary for the president of Pittsburg State University. Last week, the Regents announced the selection of Thomas Newsom, former president of Southeastern Oklahoma State, to become the next president at Pitt State, replacing Dan Shipp, who left the university this month to accept the presidency of a private university in the St. Louis area.

The 4% to 12% increases approved by Regents for the CEOs are significantly higher than the amount of money state legislators set aside for pay increases for faculty and other university employees. Legislators approved funding for 2.5% merit increases for the next year, although universities may end up providing larger increases to some employees.

As part of its budget for fiscal year 2026, KU is proposing to make some significant expense cuts so that the university can fund pay increases for many positions that have been found to be below market pay compared to the private sector or to other major research universities. While KU has made some of those adjustments in previous years, the 2026 budget devotes more money — about $17 million for general operation employees — than past budgets.

In terms of the raises for the chancellor and university presidents, the Regents said in their new policy that they “embrace a pay for performance model.” Girod generally has received high marks from Regents in recent years. KU recently has set records both for overall enrollment and freshmen enrollment, and Girod oversaw the designation of the KU Medical Center as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute, which puts KU in the same tier as the Mayo Clinic and other top cancer research facilities in the country. Girod’s national status also has grown in recent years, as he currently serves as the vice chair of the Association of American Universities — generally regarded as the group for North America’s most accomplished research universities — and also as the incoming chair of the Big 12 Conference.

A $1 million salary figure for Girod, however, may surprise some watchers of the university, as that amount is far in excess of previously reported salary figures for the chancellor. Last year, the Journal-World reported that Girod received a 6% pay increase, bringing his salary to $695,000.

Earlier this month, however, the Journal-World began asking more detailed questions of Regents staff about Girod’s total compensation, as research was suggesting a total compensation number in excess of that $695,000 mark.

On Friday, the Regents announced more detailed information about the compensation for the chancellor and the university presidents. A chart presented to Regents showed that Girod’s current base salary is $695,000, but he has “total compensation” of $895,000 for the current year.

In response to follow-up questions from the Journal-World, a Regents spokesman confirmed the $895,000 figure includes both public and private funds, but didn’t provide an exact breakdown of those amounts.

The new $1 million compensation figure for Girod also includes a mix of public and private funds. The spokesman said the endowment association or foundation of each university is responsible for paying any “deferred compensation or retention bonuses” for their university’s CEO.

In KU’s case, that means the KU Endowment Association pays all of Girod’s deferred compensation and any retention bonuses. An employment letter reviewed by the Journal-World stated Girod is eligible for up to $187,500 in “deferred compensation,” which, as described in the letter, acted as bonuses for number of years served.

The Regents spokesman, however, also said a portion of Girod’s base salary is paid by KU Endowment. The spokesman didn’t provide specifics on what portion of the base salary is paid by KU Endowment, so it is not immediately clear how much of Girod’s $1,000,000 in compensation will come from public funds.

The spokesman confirmed the $1 million compensation figure doesn’t include other in-kind services that the chancellor and other university presidents receive, such as the value of housing provided to them, the use of university vehicles and other such benefits.