PHEAA, Where No Executive Is Left Behind

(Brett Lieberman/The Patriot-News) Bonuses may be taboo in the General Assembly, but they're still greatly appreciated at the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. Greatly.

And what's not to like if you're on the receiving end of the six-figure bonuses that the state's student financial aide agency tossed around like candy Wednesday.

CEO Dick Willey received a $180,857 bonus on top of his $289,118 salary that already exceeded Gov. Ed Rendell's salary, The Patriot-News' Jan Murphy reports.

Executive VPs -- Timothy Guenther, Brian Lecher and James Preston - each received $113,515 bonuses in addition to their regular base salary of $217,257.Kelly Logan, another EVP who started only in January, quickly found out what a great place PHEAA is to work. She took home a $52,436 bonus that represents 26 percent of her $201,178 base pay.

PHEAA board chairman and state Rep. William Adolph, R-Delaware County, defended the bonuses as actually not being as big as they could. He said they fall into the 28th percentile of that paid to executives at peer organizations, which include banks, private universities, and hospitals.

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