Executive Compensation at Drexel University (2022)

Drexel University is a private research university in Philadelphia, PA (although there are satellite campuses) with about 25,000 students (an estimated 14,000 undergraduate students and 8,000 graduate students and 3,000 other students).  The annual cost of tuition, room and board (undergraduate) is about $80,000.

In 2022, Drexel reported total revenue of $1.4 billion (compared to $1.2 billion in 2021 and $1.3 billion in 2020) with the largest sources being tuition and fees ($1 billion), government grants ($129 million), related organizations ($39 million) and contributions, gifts ,and grants ($41 million).

Expenses totaled $1.3 billion with the largest expenses reported to be compensation ($540 million), grants ($445 million) – primarily to individuals ($420 million to 25,208 or an average of $17,000 each), office-related  ($156 million), fees ($70 million) – primarily other fees of $58 million with no detail provided) and other expenses (i.e. interest, travel, conferences, advertising, etc) of about $100 million.

In essence, Drexel University received $1 billion in tuition, room and board (an average of $40,000 per student) and awarded $420 million to students in the form of scholarship to 25,208 students (or an average of $17,000), which means the average tuition, room, and board was about $23,000.

Another way to look at the revenue and expenses is that if you gave $100 to Drexel (whether it was tuition, a contribution, etc), $39 was spent on staff compensation and benefits, $31 was spent on grants primarily to students, $11 was spent on office-related expenses, $5 was spent on fees for services, and $7 was spent on all other expenses (travel and conferences, advertising and promotion, interest, bad debt expenses, etc).  The remaining $7 went to the general fund (savings).  If you’re a full pay student, then essentially 31% of your tuition went towards scholarship grants for other students.

Drexel reported $1.27 billion in net assets at year-end, compared to $1.34 billion at the beginning of the year. The deterioration is attributable primarily to unrealized losses on investments.

11,635 employees received $540 million in compensation, or an average of $46,000.  1,099 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 24 most highly compensated reported to be:

• $2,765,677:  John A Fry, President
• $1,004,894:  Charles Cairns, Dean and SVP, Medical Affairs Com
• $  963,482:  Helen Y Bowman, EVP, Treasurer, COO
• $  800,315:  David L Unruh, SVP, Institutional Advancement
• $  799,485:  Paul Jensen, SVP, and Nina Henderson Provost
• $  676,749:  Elizabeth Van Bockstaele, SVP, Grad and On-Line Education
• $  667,528:  Michael J Exler, SVP and General Counsel
• $  614,329:  Megan Weyler, SVP and CHRO
• $  531,091:  Zachary Spiker, Head Coach Basketball
• $  514,016:  Subir Sahu, SVP, Student Success
• $  495,384:  Daniel V Schidlow, Former Dean Emeritus, College of Medicine
• $  489,639:  Thomas DeChiaro, VP, Info Tech and CIO
• $  475,329:  Paul Brandt-Rauf, Dean, School of Biomedical Engineering
• $  472,231:  Evelyn Thimba, SVP, Enrollment Management
• $  457,391:  Donna Marasko, Former Dean, College of AR
• $  448,636:  Lori N Doyle, SVP, University Communications
• $  445,305:  Olimpia Meucci, Chair Com, Pharmacology
• $  443,495:  Brian Wigdahl,,Chair Com, Microbiology
• $  427,998:  Brian T Keech, SVP, Gov’t and Community Relations
• $  397,245:  David Rusenko, CFO and Associate Treasurer, VP Finance
• $  392,186:  Aliester Saunders, Executive Vice Pro, Res and Innov
• $  309,202:  Catherine Ulozas, Chief Investment Officer and VP
• $  294,801:  Joseph B Hughes, Former Dean, College of Eng
• $  257,553:  Darin Pfeifer, Secretary

The 24 most highly compensated employees received $15 million in compensation with the most highly compensated employee, John A Fry, the President receiving $2.8 million. From 2017-2022, Mr. Fry has received $12 million in compensation while the 10 most highly compensated employees received $34 million:

John A Fry:  Total Compensation 2017-2022:  $12 million

• 2022:  $2,765,677
• 2021:  $2,384,272
• 2020: $1,614,358
• 2019:  $2,431,281
• 2018:  $1,423,636
• 2017:  $1,671,432

Charles Cairns:  Total Compensation 2020-2022:  $2 million

• 2022:  $1,004,894
• 2021:  $   763,713
• 2020:  $  282,588

Helen Y Bowman:  Total Compensation 2017-2022:  $5 million

• 2022:  $963,482
• 2021:  $924,893
• 2020:  $736,593
• 2019:  $713,594
• 2018:  $712,584
• 2017:  $836,542

David L Unruh:  Total Compensation 2017-2022:  $4 million

• 2022:  $800,315
• 2021:  $587,525
• 2020:  $769,777
• 2019:  $542,169
• 2018:  $540,759
• 2017:  $713,042

Paul Jensen:  Total Compensation 2017-2022:  $2 million

• 2022:  $799,485
• 2021:  $644,464
• 2020:  $474,389

Elizabeth Van Bockstael:  Total Compensation 2020-2022:  $1.5 million

• 2022:  $676,749
• 2021:  $442,328
• 2020:  $461,282

Michael J Exler:  Total Compensation 2017-2022:  $3 million

• 2022:  $667,528
• 2021:  $501,876
• 2020:  $591,683
• 2019:  $459,229
• 2018:  $456,807
• 2017:  $526,066

Megan Weyler:  Total Compensation:  2020-2022:  $1.5 million

• 2022:  $614,329
• 2021:  $427,097
• 2020:  $382,471

Zachery Spiker:  Total Compensation 2019-2022:  $1.5 million

• 2022:  $531,091
• 2021:  $496,316
• 2020:  Not Listed
• 2019:  $484,761

Subir Sahu:  Total Compensation 2020-2022:  $1 million

• 2022:  $514,016
• 2021:  $347,893
• 2020:  $319,916

15 of the 24 (63%) most highly compensated employees are male while 9 of the 24 (37%) are female (note:  gender is not reported on the Form 990; determinations were made based on name and google searches). Interestingly, 45 of the 60 (75%) trustees listed on the Form 990 are male, while 15 of the 60 (25%) are female.

Drexel paid for first class or charter travel and companion travel, health or social club dues or initiation fees, personal services (i.e. maid, chef, chauffeur), and provided housing for personal use or a housing allowance.  For details on these expenses and information on severance payments to former employees, and contributions to retirement plans (the information on the Form 990 is too lengthy to post), see the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III, Supplemental Information.

In addition, see the Form 990, Schedule L, Part III and Part IV, for information on business transactions, merit scholarships, tuition remission, and employment of “interested persons” (people who have a family relationship with an employee, director, etc).

147 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 5 most highly compensated reported to be:

• $7 million:  BSI Construction, of Bensalem, PA for construction services
• $9  million:  Aramark Services, of Philadelphia, PA for food services
• $6  million:  Allied Universal Security Services, of Conshohocken, PA for security services
• $4 million:  McKinsey and Company, of St Petersburg, FL for consulting
• $3  million:  Levlane Advertising, of Philadelphia, PA for consulting

To read the IRS Form 990 (2021 for the year ending June 30, 2022), click here.