Five college and university presidents made over $2 million last year

He suddenly feels motivated, too!

The big winner was Columbia University's Lee Bollinger, who pocketed $4.6 million. He has been the president at the school since 2002, when he came over from the University of Michigan after he primed his skills as--you guessed it--president there as well for six years.

The four other presidents to earn at least $2 million?

Amy Gutmann, University of Pennsylvania:   $3 million

Nido Qubein, High Point University:   $2.9 million

Richard Joel, Yeshiva University:   $2.5 million

Nicholas Zeppos, Vanderbilt University:   $2.1 million

In case you're wondering, Nido Qubein isn't the name to a second rate club DJ in Miami. His Wikipedia profile says he's not only a college president, but chairman of Great Harvest Bread Company and a motivational speaker as well. Do you suddenly feel motivated to make $2.9 million at a no-name college? I know I do.

Overall, median compensation was $436,429 for a private college or university president, up from just under $400,000 for the year 2012, according to the Chronicle for Higher Education.

In other words, college presidents should know better than anyone how to motivate a salary to drastically increase.