Superintendent/President

The Chronicle Of Higher Education, Inc.; San Marcos (CA); On-site; USD 325,000 - 360,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Doctorate stipend

Cell phone stipend

Transportation allowance

Job summary

Palomar College seeks a Superintendent/President who is an experienced, visible, and responsive leader. This executive will understand and respect Palomar College's history and culture while building trust and guiding the College through key opportunities and challenges.

The role requires five or more years of senior-level leadership and a Master’s degree. Salary is $325,000–$360,000 annually, with an annual doctorate stipend of $1,862.53, plus a $100 monthly cell phone stipend and a $500

Qualifications

• Experience: Progressive leadership with five or more years of senior-level experience.

Education

Master's degree

Job description

Superintendent/President

Department: Superintendent/President's Office (Dept) Palomar College

Date Opened: 07/20/2026

Close Date: 09/08/2026

Primary Function

The next Superintendent/President of Palomar College will be an experienced, visible, responsive leader who seeks to understand and respect the history and culture of Palomar College, while building trust and leading the College in addressing the Opportunities and Challenges listed below.

Salary

• Starting salary range: $325,000 - $360,000 annually
• Salary is negotiable dependent upon education and experience within posted salary range.
• Length of contract and other terms of employment are competitive and negotiable dependent upon education and experience.
• In addition, administrators who possess earned doctorates from accredited institutions are awarded an annual stipend of $1,862.53.
• Other fringe benefits can be negotiated with the Governing Board upon offer of hire. Currently the District also provides this position with a $100 monthly cell phone stipend and a $500 monthly transportation allowance, for a gross amount of $600 per month. These stipends are not considered creditable compensation under CalPERS or CalSTRS.

Benefits

In addition to a competitive compensation structure, Palomar College also offers an extremely generous benefits package.

• Insurance fully paid for employees and their eligible dependents: four medical plans, dental HMO, and the vision plan (additional plans are available that require employee buy up/monthly contribution)
• Vacation, sick leave and 25 paid holidays
• $80,000 employee term life/accident insurance policy (additional buy up options available)
• Employee long-term care insurance
• Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) - Confidential free counseling, financial, legal, personal and professional development resources for all members of your household
• Additional buy up options available for other voluntary insurance benefits
• Enrollment in CalSTRS (California State Teachers Retirement System)

The estimated maximum value of this employer-paid benefits package is approximately $31,245.84 annually.

Minimum Qualifications

• Experience: Progressive leadership experience with five or more years of senior-level experience.
• Note: For work experience, a 'year' is defined as equivalent to 40 hours per week for 12 months. For supervisory experience, the experience must be at a professional level (i.e. evaluation and/or discipline of staff).

AND

• Education: Master's degree from an accredited college or university.

Only coursework completed at, and degrees awarded by, accredited institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education will be considered as satisfying the minimum qualifications. Coursework and degrees that are completed outside of the United States are required to have transcripts evaluated (evaluation to U.S. equivalency and a course by course analysis) by an appropriate U.S. credentials evaluation service. For a list of credential evaluation agencies accepted by Palomar College, visit the National Association of Credentials Evaluation Services (NACES) website at http://www.naces.org, or the Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc. (AICE) website at http://aice-eval.org/.

Diversity Statement

Palomar College serves over 30,000 students from a variety of backgrounds and we are proud to be a Hispanic Serving Institution. Our student body is rich in its diversity. Click here to see a quick overview of our student demographics on our recent Student Fact Sheet.

Palomar College is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, access and antiracism. We are dedicated to empowering students to succeed and are guided by our core values; some of which are the following:

• Access - We make education possible for everyone.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - We recognize and respect diversity, seek to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, and strive to address inequities. All positions require cultural competency which includes the sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students, faculty, and staff.

About the District

Palomar College, founded in 1946, is a comprehensive, two-year community college that serves the greater North San Diego County region. Palomar College offers over 200 associate degrees and certificate programs to approximately 25,000 full- and part-time students. A favorite in the community among local institutions of higher education, the College is recognized as one of the top 100 Colleges and Universities in the nation for serving Hispanic students. Palomar College is just 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean and 30 miles away from all of the exciting cultural activities that San Diego has to offer.

Palomar College is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE).