Board of Trustees approves $26K raise for UCF president

ORLANDO, Fla. — The University of Central Florida voted to give its president a raise Thursday, but not all students were happy about it.

President John Hitt makes $741,500 and Thursday he accepted a $26,000 raise.

Several student groups protested outside the meeting where his raise was scheduled for a vote.

"We feel that this is a huge slap in the face to the student body; a student body that is facing unprecedented times of student debt. The average student graduates with $19,000 in debt," said UCF student Curtis Hierro.

Some students said Hitt's raise is unfair to students facing four straight years of 15 percent tuition hikes.

"It's just a bad time. Maybe before the tuition hikes, but as our tuition goes up, his salary goes up? It doesn't look so right," said freshman Simon Lee.

But not all students agreed.

"It does seem a little excess … but it's somewhat appropriate if you're president of a university that's I think second largest in the nation," said freshman Trevor Gross.

A university spokesman said that Hitt has been president of the university 21 years. He has led the growth of the school from about 20,000 students to just fewer than 60,000, and he has not had a salary increase in six years.

WFTV was told all of the money for the raise will come from private donations and not the state.

UCF is the second largest school in the country, based on enrollment.

WFTV