A Minnesota state lawmaker recently highlighted information from the University of Minnesota showing that more than 2,100 of their employees make six figure salaries.
Rep. Marion Rarick, R-Maple Lake, raised the issue during a recent House Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee hearing.
Rep. Rarick mentioned that even the 100th highest-paid person at the University of Minnesota makes $354,000 per year. Furthermore, she shared that more than 2,100 people are paid more than the governor of Minnesota, who currently receives $127,629 per year.
“I just got data back from the University of Minnesota. I had asked for their top 100 salaried people … so it’s when you go from the top to the 100th person, they’re still at $354,000 at the University of Minnesota,” said Rep. Rarick. “I have data from 2023 from a government transparency group and they had asked for anybody that was paid more than the governor, which was at that point $128,000, and that list of employed people at the University of Minnesota is 2,169 people paid more than the governor.”
For instance, former legislator and current U.S. Senate candidate Melisa López Franzen received a salary of $250,000 when she served as the school’s chief lobbyist in 2023.
According to the Public Record Media report referenced by Rarick, 329 people at the university earn at least $225,000.
Various people commented on a clip of Rarick’s remarks, saying the salaries are too high.
My state representative, @MarionONeill1, shares new data from the University of Minnesota:
• 2,100 of it’s employees make more than the governor.
• The 100th highest salary exceeds $350K per year.How can anyone call this institution a “non-profit”?
pic.twitter.com/dNPjV2YDbl— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) March 30, 2025
“Wages like that don’t need taxpayer funding,” wrote one user. “University administrators and professors are over-paid and under-worked,” said another user. One commenter even described it as “ridiculous.”
The University of Minnesota did not respond in time for publication when asked for comment regarding the recent publicity of University of Minnesota staff and employee salaries.
During the hearing, Minnesota lawmakers were discussing the University of Minnesota’s Higher Education Asset Preservation and Replacement (HEAPR) request for more state funding.
The University of Minnesota is requesting both a HEAPR of $200 million in order to fund more than 100 projects in at least 75 buildings across the state, and $20 million towards further implementation of Future of Advanced Agricultural Research in Minnesota (FAARM), a program dedicated to the development of an advanced agricultural research complex in Mower County.
Sarah Prentice
Sarah Prentice has previously written for Campus Reform and worked as an intern at Media Research Center. While continuing to pursue her degree in political science, she worked full-time in communications and media outreach for a pro-woman, pro-life non-profit. Now a fellow at Alpha News during her senior year of college, she hopes to graduate with her political science degree from SUNY Brockport and combine it with her media and communications experience to pursue political journalism. She has a special interest in reporting on stories related to social issues, education, public health, and religious freedom.
