Harvard President Neil L. Rudenstine's salary remained significantly below the national median last year, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education's annual survey of university presidents' salaries.

The salaries of university presidents across the country generally grew--some by as much as 20 percent, the survey also showed.

Rudenstine's compensation, which includes salary as well as benefits, totaled $342,599 in the past fiscal year. The 1998-99 median salary for university presidents was $393,288.

While Rudenstine was among the 74 college presidents earning over $300,000, his salary is still nearly $50,000 below the median salary for university presidents.

Harry C. Payne, former president of Williams College, topped the charts as the highest paid president in 1998-99, receiving $878,222.

But Payne's compensation was not representative of the presidential salary at Williams College, according to James G. Kolesar, Williams spokesperson.

Payne was well compensated in part because the '98-'99 fiscal year was his last at the university, Kolesar said. The $878,22 also includes payments to be made over several years.

Judith Rodin of the University of Pennsylvania and L. Jay Oliva of New York University were the second and the third highest paid university presidents in 1998-99.