The Chancellor of the University of California–San Diego has received a $500,000 raise to keep him from accepting an offer to serve as president of an unnamed, private institution.
Pradeep K. Khosla received the raise from the University of California Board of Regents after he notified them of the pending offer.
His base salary will increase from just under $640,000 to around $1.14 million, effective May 1. According to UC spokesperson Roqua Montez, this is less than half of what the competing private institution was offering.
According to the agenda for the board’s April 6 meeting, the pay increase will be privately funded by local unnamed philanthropists.
“Being able to offer this increase solely through fundraising through philanthropic resources is pretty incredible,” Lt. Gov. and UC Regent Eleni Kounalakis said during the meeting. “I will be thanking the philanthropic community for valuing the leadership of Chancellor Khosla and the many things he has done to expand and support the ongoing excellence of UC San Diego.
During the same meeting, the board also approved an amendment to its Employee Housing Assistance Program that will help school chancellors buy private residences.
Khosla already has university-provided housing, nearly $9,000 in an annual automobile allowance, as well as a pension, health, and welfare benefits, and other funds for entertainment and research purposes.
Since he took the role in 2012, Khosla has led the UC San Diego Strategic Plan, raising $3.05 billion in funding and managing an $8.5 billion expansion of the campus to increase college access and opportunities for underserved students.
Khosla is now the highest-paid of the 10 chancellors in the University of California system.
