West Central Reporter

Men’s head coach salaries at Western Illinois University outpace women’s team coaches by 50 percent, according to a West Central Reporter analysis of recent U.S. Department of Education data.

Male head coaches at the university earn an average of $105,676, while female head coaches’ annual pay is 70,664. 

The U.S. Department of Education’s office of postsecondary education collects athletics data annually from all institutions with intercollegiate athletics programs that receive funding through federal financial aid programs. Data for 2016 – the latest year available – includes more than 2,000 schools nationwide.

A total of 96 universities and colleges in Illinois paid salaries to both men’s and women’s head coaches in 2016.

Gender pay gap for head coaches at Illinois schools

Rank	School	Division	Total Undergraduates	Men's Team Average Annual Institutional Salary per FTE	Women's Team Average Annual Institutional Salary per FTE	How Much More Do Men's Coaches Earn, on Average?
1	Northwestern University	NCAA Division I-FBS	8,249	$824,724	$202,206	307.86%
2	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	NCAA Division I-FBS	32,126	$740,045	$181,452	307.85%
3	Bradley University	NCAA Division I without football	4,278	$272,144	$90,123	201.97%
4	Northern Illinois University	NCAA Division I-FBS	12,323	$195,957	$84,831	131.00%
5	Illinois State University	NCAA Division I-FCS	17,420	$197,184	$96,034	105.33%
6	Loyola University Chicago	NCAA Division I without football	10,261	$166,621	$83,713	99.04%
7	DePaul University	NCAA Division I without football	13,126	$422,068	$224,721	87.82%
8	Eureka College	NCAA Division III with football	644	$41,972	$24,489	71.39%
9	Southwestern Illinois College	NJCAA Division I	3,860	$43,300	$25,444	70.18%
10	North Central College	NCAA Division III with football	2,534	$73,480	$47,461	54.82%
11	Western Illinois University	NCAA Division I-FCS	7,482	$105,676	$70,664	49.55%
12	Olney Central College	NJCAA Division I	479	$55,193	$37,105	48.75%
13	City Colleges of Chicago-Malcolm X College	NJCAA Division I	2,420	$56,000	$38,196	46.61%
14	University of Illinois at Chicago	NCAA Division I without football	16,408	$124,683	$89,102	39.93%
15	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	NCAA Division I-FCS	10,509	$114,651	$82,114	39.62%
16	Augustana College	NCAA Division III with football	2,514	$84,365	$60,436	39.59%
17	North Park University	NCAA Division III with football	1,884	$72,486	$52,770	37.36%
18	Oakton Community College	NJCAA Division II	2,596	$33,546	$25,324	32.47%
19	Shawnee Community College	NJCAA Division I	739	$41,368	$31,378	31.84%
20	City Colleges of Chicago-Wilbur Wright College	NJCAA Division II	3,149	$28,800	$22,000	30.91%
21	Concordia University-Chicago	NCAA Division III with football	1,355	$61,570	$47,851	28.67%
22	Elgin Community College	NJCAA Division III	3,008	$19,285	$15,162	27.19%
23	McKendree University	NCAA Division II with football	1,820	$63,241	$49,796	27.00%
24	Trinity International University-Illinois	NAIA Division I	631	$58,303	$46,268	26.01%
25	Sauk Valley Community College	NJCAA Division I	792	$28,133	$22,590	24.54%
26	Quincy University	NCAA Division II with football	1,035	$46,465	$37,337	24.45%
27	MacMurray College	NCAA Division III with football	531	$45,884	$37,264	23.13%
28	Judson University	NAIA Division I	786	$46,240	$37,569	23.08%
29	Lincoln Trail College	NJCAA Division I	386	$44,459	$36,525	21.72%
30	Dominican University	NCAA Division III without football	2,101	$57,052	$47,335	20.53%
31	Illinois College	NCAA Division III with football	949	$54,607	$45,375	20.35%
32	Blackburn College	NCAA Division III without football	569	$41,723	$34,716	20.18%
33	University of St Francis	NAIA Division II	1,320	$55,386	$46,215	19.84%
34	Lewis University	NCAA Division II without football	3,741	$66,467	$55,814	19.09%
35	Kaskaskia College	NJCAA Division I	1,233	$33,560	$28,222	18.91%
36	Rockford University	NCAA Division III with football	909	$42,340	$35,622	18.86%
37	Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville	NCAA Division I without football	9,883	$84,177	$71,992	16.93%
38	Wabash Valley College	NJCAA Division I	464	$46,813	$40,115	16.70%
39	Knox College	NCAA Division III with football	1,325	$43,551	$37,715	15.47%
40	John A Logan College	NJCAA Division I	1,899	$59,095	$51,443	14.87%
41	Wheaton College	NCAA Division III with football	2,400	$71,173	$62,275	14.29%
42	Benedictine University	NCAA Division III with football	2,687	$52,351	$46,155	13.42%
43	Olivet Nazarene University	NAIA Division II	3,019	$62,411	$55,060	13.35%
44	Millikin University	NCAA Division III with football	1,796	$55,853	$49,448	12.95%
45	Heartland Community College	NJCAA Division II	2,107	$37,748	$33,448	12.86%
46	Lewis and Clark Community College	NJCAA Division I	1,731	$47,680	$42,568	12.01%
47	John Wood Community College	NJCAA Division II	965	$29,545	$26,515	11.43%
48	Lincoln College	NJCAA Division III	727	$42,770	$38,465	11.19%
49	Aurora University	NCAA Division III with football	3,302	$65,409	$59,039	10.79%
50	William Rainey Harper College	NJCAA Division III	4,331	$32,569	$29,731	9.55%
51	University of Illinois at Springfield	NCAA Division II without football	1,896	$49,409	$45,146	9.44%
52	Eastern Illinois University	NCAA Division I-FCS	5,117	$94,044	$85,939	9.43%
53	Saint Xavier University	NAIA Division II	2,599	$59,625	$54,505	9.39%
54	College of DuPage	NJCAA Division III	6,335	$56,263	$52,137	7.91%
55	Illinois Wesleyan University	NCAA Division III with football	1,760	$54,798	$51,435	6.54%
56	City Colleges of Chicago-Olive-Harvey College	NJCAA Division II	781	$26,294	$25,000	5.18%
57	Rend Lake College	NJCAA Division I	1,135	$26,744	$25,515	4.82%
58	University of Chicago	NCAA Division III with football	5,956	$78,780	$75,849	3.86%
59	Elmhurst College	NCAA Division III with football	2,682	$49,887	$48,375	3.13%
60	Triton College	Other	3,107	$59,600	$58,100	2.58%
61	Moody Bible Institute	NCCAA Division II	2,275	$56,090	$54,998	1.99%
62	Kishwaukee College	NJCAA Division II	1,570	$22,988	$22,786	0.89%
63	Highland Community College	NJCAA Division I	823	$32,291	$32,178	0.35%
64	Parkland College	NJCAA Division II	2,978	$31,113	$31,012	0.33%
65	College of Lake County	NJCAA Division II	3,808	$20,719	$20,654	0.31%
66	Governors State University	NAIA Division II	1,923	$50,001	$50,000	0.00%
67	Black Hawk College	NJCAA Division II	1,909	$69,477	$69,477	0.00%
68	Danville Area Community College	NJCAA Division II	973	$39,000	$39,000	0.00%
69	Lincoln Christian University	NAIA Division II	357	$21,875	$21,875	0.00%
70	Lincoln Land Community College	NJCAA Division II	2,269	$35,145	$35,145	0.00%
71	Rock Valley College	NJCAA Division III	2,999	$33,333	$33,333	0.00%
72	South Suburban College	NJCAA Division II	1,328	$34,884	$34,884	0.00%
73	Southeastern Illinois College	NJCAA Division I	457	$32,467	$32,467	0.00%
74	Spoon River College	NJCAA Division II	727	$30,303	$30,303	0.00%
75	Joliet Junior College	NJCAA Division III	4,988	$17,176	$17,189	-0.08%
76	Robert Morris University Illinois	NAIA Division II	2,253	$69,381	$69,472	-0.13%
77	Morton College	NJCAA Division II	1,253	$50,422	$50,507	-0.17%
78	Illinois Institute of Technology	NCAA Division III without football	2,709	$48,209	$48,301	-0.19%
79	Illinois Valley Community College	NJCAA Division II	1,256	$17,136	$17,181	-0.26%
80	Lake Forest College	NCAA Division III with football	1,502	$60,583	$60,775	-0.32%
81	Carl Sandburg College	NJCAA Division II	929	$17,130	$17,225	-0.55%
82	Prairie State College	NJCAA Division II	1,400	$63,500	$64,074	-0.90%
83	Lake Land College	NJCAA Division I	2,261	$34,115	$35,123	-2.87%
84	City Colleges of Chicago-Harry S Truman College	NJCAA Division I	1,599	$46,897	$48,696	-3.69%
85	McHenry County College	NJCAA Division II	1,944	$20,848	$21,673	-3.81%
86	Roosevelt University	NAIA Division II	2,250	$49,518	$51,861	-4.52%
87	Moraine Valley Community College	NJCAA Division II	6,186	$38,653	$40,673	-4.97%
88	Greenville College	NCAA Division III with football	913	$35,747	$39,841	-10.28%
89	Illinois Central College	NJCAA Division II	3,082	$51,801	$58,085	-10.82%
90	Chicago State University	NCAA Division I without football	1,464	$40,564	$45,724	-11.29%
91	Trinity Christian College	NAIA Division II	903	$45,547	$52,845	-13.81%
92	Monmouth College	NCAA Division III with football	1,124	$44,687	$52,943	-15.59%
93	Waubonsee Community College	NJCAA Division II	3,101	$25,173	$30,241	-16.76%
94	City Colleges of Chicago-Kennedy-King College	NJCAA Division I	1,570	$40,000	$49,483	-19.16%
95	Kankakee Community College	NJCAA Division II	1,064	$51,157	$64,466	-20.64%
96	Frontier Community College	NJCAA Division I	257	$19,435	$36,326	-46.50%

Source: U.S. Department of Education’s office of postsecondary education