IOWA CITY – The salary bump on deck for incoming University of Iowa president Sally Mason could mean increased pay for leaders of the state’s other universities.

Mason, the provost at Purdue University, was announced as Iowa’s new president on Thursday. The State Board of Regents will play Mason, 57, a base salary of $450,000.

Regents said the number reflects something they knew going into the search for a new president – that the job would need a significant boost in pay to attract top shelf candidates.

Regent Bob Downer says that may also be the case for the president’s at Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.

“These are all terrific leaders in my view,” Downer said of Iowa’s university presidents. “We want to make it attractive for them to stay and finish out their careers.”

In particular, Downer said, the regents need to review ISU President Gregory Geoffroy’s salary of $323,307. Downer believes it ranks low when compared with Iowa State’s peer schools.

UNI President Ben Allen’s salary of $275,000 is more competitive with peers, Downer said, because Allen was appointed last year and the salary was adjusted then.

Regent David Miles of West Des Moines, the board’s president pro tem, agreed keeping presidential salaries competitive was a big issue. He said the board would likely pay attention in August to the competitiveness of ISU and UNI’s presidential pay.

“We need to be competitive across the board,” he said.

A national study released in November reported the median pay package for public university presidents this year was $374,846, a 4 percent increase.