UNIVERSITY PARK — Sandy Barbour will be at Penn State for another half-decade making more than $1 million per year.

The Penn State Board of Trustees’ compensation committee approved the athletic director’s new deal on Thursday. Barbour’s contract will be become official Friday afternoon when the Board of Trustees as a whole votes on the matter.

However, Penn State has already released details of Barbour’s terms. The contract extension runs through the 2022-23 academic year and will pay Barbour an average base salary of $1.27 million. Barbour’s base salary will be $1.17 million in 2018-19 and gradually work its way up to $1.37 million in 2022-23.

It’s a sizable raise for the 2016-17 AD of the Year, as Barbour made $835,420 in 2017-18, including a $100,000 retention bonus.

Using data from USA Today salary database from May 2018, Barbour’s new salary ranks fourth in the Big Ten behind only Northwestern’s Jim Phillips ($1.57 million), Wisconsin’s Barry Alvarez ($1.55 million) and Ohio State’s Gene Smith ($1.42 million).

Comparing across the country, Alabama’s Greg Byrne and Oklahoma’s Joe Castiglione made $1.25 million and $1.15 million, respectively, in 2018.

In this new contract, Barbour’s annual retention bonus will be eliminated, and the AD’s title will also be changed to Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics.

“I am very appreciative of President Barron’s and the Board of Trustees’ confidence in my leadership and their steadfast belief in intercollegiate athletics as a powerful and positive influence on our institution and community,” Barbour said in a statement. “It has been a privilege and an honor to lead this program the last four-plus years, and I look forward to the great work that lies ahead on behalf of student-athlete development and success.”

Added Penn State president Eric Barron: “Sandy has consistently promoted excellence in intercollegiate athletics — in academics and athletic competitions, and she is widely hailed among the best athletic directors in the nation. … I’m proud of our student-athletics, the coaches and staff, and I’m very pleased that Sandy will be able to lead them to even greater success.”

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