UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry Yang will get a big salary boost going into his last year in the role before he retires.
The UC Board of Regents, which is the governing board for the statewide University of California system, agreed last week to increase the salaries of university leaders to match those of other educational leaders across the country.
Yang will make a base salary of $820,000, up from his previous salary of $579,750.
When Noozhawk reached out to UCSB for a statement on Yang’s salary increase, the Office of Public Affairs and Communications sent a statement from the UC Office of the President from the last Regents meeting.
“The chancellors who lead UC’s 10 campuses, each a top-ranked university in its own right, are renowned scholars and administrative leaders with significant responsibility for ensuring instructional, research and operational excellence and continually advancing UC’s service to the public,” the statement read.
“Although UC campuses consistently rank among the best in the U.S. and the world, UC chancellors are among the lowest paid compared to their peers nationwide.”
A staff report from the Regents meeting stated that UC chancellors make 20% less than leaders of public institutions in the Association of American Universities and 43% less than their peers at private institutions.
Yang, as well as the UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Merced, UC Riverside and UC San Francisco chancellors, all received a 4.2% base salary increase and a market-rate base increase funded through private sources. Yang received a 24.2% market-rate salary increase.
UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Cynthia Larive chose to forgo any base salary increase for the 2024-25 year.
“The proposed salary adjustments are intended to help UC continue to recruit and retain the caliber of diverse leadership required to maintain UC’s excellence and the quality of UC’s contributions to the public,” the staff report stated.
In August, Yang announced that he would be stepping down as chancellor at the end of this school year and will return to teaching and research.
Yang was appointed to the role in 1994 and is one of the longest-serving chancellors in the UC system.
