The information about benefits covers only the latter fiscal year. The Chronicle compiled the information from the Form 990's each institution filed with the Internal Revenue Service for the past two years. Form 990 requires non-profit organizations like colleges to list, among other things, the pay and benefits of their officers, directors, trustees, and key employees. The expenditures figure for each institution, taken from Line 17 of Form 990, shows the college's total expenses in the 1997-98 fiscal year. The revenues figure is taken from Line 12 of Form 990 and shows total revenues in that fiscal year.
Pay is defined as all salaries, fees, bonuses, and severance payments that each person received.
The benefits category includes perquisites like health and pension plans. Colleges are required to include all forms of deferred compensation that were paid or designated in that year. In general, the information appears here as it was reported on Form 990. The Chronicle notes exceptional circumstances, such as a partial-year payment or a severance package, when the college did so on its tax form. The Chronicle also has added, where appropriate, the department affiliations of some faculty members and the areas of responsibility of some administrators.