Football head coach Jeff Hafley and former men’s basketball head coach Jim Christian were the highest-paid employees at Boston College for the 2021 fiscal year (FY21), according to the annual 990 tax filings. Hafley earned $2,938,035 and Christian—who was fired in February 2021 after six and a half years at BC—earned $1,428,053.
Following Hafley and Christian, the next highest-paid University employees were John Zona, BC’s chief investment officer and associate treasurer; Pat Kraft, director of athletics; Andrew Boynton, dean of the Carroll School of Management; Frank Cignetti, assistant football coach; and David Quigley, provost and dean of facilities.
Zona—who manages BC’s endowment—earned $809,661, according to the 990. After Zona, Kraft earned $747,988, Boynton earned $743,582, Cignetti earned $740,821, and Quigley earned $658,665.
BC’s net assets increased by $1,109,987,431 in FY21, reaching a total of $6,311,936,438 by the end of the year. Also by the end of the fiscal year, BC’s endowment skyrocketed from roughly $2.6 billion to $3.8 billion.
According to the 990, BC paid the Jesuit community on campus $4,991,083 for “instructional, administrative and institutional services, which include the services rendered by the University’s Jesuit officers.” The compensation for major Jesuit administrative figures, including University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., is included in that amount.
According to publicly disclosed lobbying reports, BC paid $230,000 to Cassidy & Associates—a lobbying agency—in 2021. The University paid the agency to “assist management in the identification, development, and presentation of institutional initiatives for consideration by committees of Congress, federal regulatory agencies, and others.”
Specific lobbying issues listed in the reports included FY 2022 Labor HHS and Education Funding related to programmatic funding at the Department of Education and legislative policy related to the use of Name, Image, and Likeness for college athletes.
Boston College collected $735,575,111 in tuition and fees in FY21 and dispersed $242,437,470 in financial aid to 8,946 students. The University also gained $2,466,078,769 from its equities, $258,862,269 from real estate, $96,567,112 from fixed income, and $509,172,152 in cash in FY21, according to the 990.
During FY21, the University received $230,696,730 in donations. Over the past five years, the University has received a total of $918,798,603 in grants, gifts, and contributions. BC also received $322,503 worth of art and $188,460 in books and publications.
The University donated $75,000 to the Allston/Brighton-Boston College Community Fund, $25,000 to Boston Charitable Trust Fund, $15,000 to Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa, and $100,000 to the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States in FY21.
