Utah’s eight college and university presidents are some of the highest paid public employees in the state.

And now, their pay could grow even higher under a new bonus system that’s currently in the works from the Utah Board of Higher Education. That would award each president up to an extra 10% of their base salary if they met certain metrics.

Currently, presidential pay is standardized. Board members look at each school and compare them to national peers. Utah State University, for example, is compared to other top land grant and research institutions.

Then, based on salaries elsewhere, the board sets the Utah president’s pay rate as the median.

Utah’s higher education Commissioner Geoff Landward says that keeps Utah’s salaries competitive.

Here’s a breakdown of what each school leader is making now, listed in order from highest to lowest. This includes base salary, plus a breakdown of additional perks or extra pay some make in addition.

The numbers are from 2025 and based on public salary data.

University of Utah President Taylor Randall

• Annual base salary: $864,119.

• Additional pay: $148,539 for faculty pay, including an endowed position in the business school, and some retirement funds.

• Benefits: $207,478.

• Total: $1,220,136.

The highest paid president in the state runs a top research school and a connected hospital system.

In addition to his salary, Randall also continues to get pay from his time as faculty and dean at the U.’s David Eccles School of Business, where he worked before becoming president in August 2021.

He’s also offered the highest retirement and employment leave allowances available.

Utah State University President Brad Mortensen

• Annual base salary: $674,856.

• Benefits: Number not available.

• Total: Number not available.

Mortensen took the helm at USU in November, so his annual benefit payments won’t be publicly shared until next year.

But aside from his outlining base salary, his contract also allows for an annual vehicle allowance of $8,721 and an annual housing allowance of $48,000, if he chooses not to live in the presidential residence on campus.

[Read more: Q&A: Why new USU President Brad Mortensen ‘wouldn’t have applied’ without Utah’s now-secret hiring process]

Utah Valley University President Astrid Tuminez

• Annual base salary: $397,060.

• Additional pay: $103,472 in “specialist” pay from a private fund.

• Benefits: $196,687.

• Total: $697,219.

Tuminez is stepping down from office at the end of April. Her compensation includes extra money labeled “specialist” pay, public salary data shows.

A spokesperson for UVU said that comes from privately donated funds. The Utah Board of Higher Education moved to ban that in 2021, but since Tuminez started in 2018, she has been allowed to continue receiving it.

Salt Lake Community College President Greg Peterson

• Annual base salary: $370,721.

• Additional pay: About $6,400 for faculty pay and $56,721 in stipends for housing and a car.

• Benefits: $120,869.

• Total: $554,711.

Peterson teaches at SLCC, so he receives some additional pay for that on top of his presidential salary. He also has opted to take the full $48,000 annual housing allowance and $8,721 annual car allowance offered, which show up as stipends in public salary data.

Southern Utah University President Mindy Benson

• Annual base salary: $367,710.

• Benefits: $135,528.

• Total: $503,238.

Benson was named president of SUU in Cedar City in July 2022 after serving as interim leader for a year prior. She is the first woman to hold the job.

In her contract, she opted not to reside at the university’s presidential residence.

Utah Tech University President Shane Smeed

• Annual base salary: $367,710.

• Benefits: Number not available. But it should be similar to SUU President Benson, based on their matching base salaries, so around $135,528.

• Total: Number not available. But it should be similar to Benson, around $503,238.

Like Mortensen at USU, Smeed hasn’t been in his position for a full year. He started as president of Utah Tech in May 2025, so his annual benefit payments won’t be publicly shared until 2027.

His salary, though, should match Benson’s at SUU, though, because both are leaders of similarly positioned regional universities.

Weber State University interim President Leslie Durham

• Annual base salary: $362,469.

• Benefits: Number not available.

• Total: Number not available.

Durham is currently serving as interim president of Weber State after the school’s previous leader, Mortensen, took the helm at USU.

Her contract stated she could not apply for the permanent position. She is making slightly less in terms of base salary than Mortensen was in his final year on the job.

Snow College President Stacee McIff

• Annual base salary: $324,006.

• Benefits: $90,753.

• Total: $414,759.

McIff started as Snow College’s top leader in May 2023 after also serving a year prior to that as the interim president. Like Benson at SUU, she is also the first woman to lead the small two-year college in rural central Utah.