Timing is everything, and for University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan, it couldn’t be worse.

Days after the Boston Herald published the payroll for UMass, which again revealed a bounty of administrative bloat, Meehan said he expects the UMass system will have to hike tuition for the next academic year.

“During COVID, we didn’t increase two years in a row, but we’re trying to make sure if there is an increase in tuition, it’s below the rate of inflation,” Meehan said during an interview for WCVB’s Sunday episode of “On The Record.”

Meehan didn’t confirm a rate but told “OTR” that he expects it will come in under 3% this year.

“When inflation goes up at a certain amount and our personnel costs, which are negotiated by the (Executive Office for Administration and Finance) in the Governor’s office, there will be increases in costs. We want to keep quality up,” Meehan said.

Keeping quality up and costs down are not mutually exclusive, however. Especially when you have excesses ripe for cutting.

There’s an associate vice chancellor making $291,585 a year. The Chief People Strategy Officer made $453,966.45 last year. A trio of chancellor professors earned between $200,000 and $223,000.

Chancellors do well at UMass, with six earning between $500,000 and $650,000. Some administrators earn more, some less. But clearly, inflation isn’t nipping at the heels of the well-heeled at UMass.

Mayor Michelle Wu has been called out for increasing the city budget without cutting costs, and so too should Meehan and the UMass university system. “Trim” is a four-letter word, but it’s one they should embrace.

Would lopping some of the largesse from the generous paychecks of administrators affect the quality that Meehan wants to “keep up?” What it would do is increase the chances for UMass tuition to remain flat.

Meehan made a point of saying that “personnel costs” are negotiated by the (Executive Office for Administration and Finance) in the Governor’s office. Then Gov. Maura Healey has another task on her plate: to reel in the big-bucks salaries in the UMass system.

It’s worth noting that the progressive voices who rail against high corporate salaries are largely quiet when it comes to academic compensation, especially at the administrative level. Universities are not sacred cows, and public institutions of higher education are as accountable to taxpayers as elected officials.

Or should be.

Thanks to payroll data made public, students and their families can see what their tuition (and tax dollars) are paying for as they consider a public university. This information should be part of every prospective student’s college prep kit. The knowledge that administrators are being paid a cool half million dollars per year should give students pause as they apply for loans.

As State House News reported last summer, UMass enrollment was projected to decrease by 0.3% in fiscal year 2024, part of a three-year downward trend.

Meehan has been warning that UMass is starting to contend with “very strong headwinds” of enrollment pressures fueled by lower birth rates, more competition for students and people questioning the return on investment from a college degree.

One way to combat this is by lowering tuition, or at least avoiding a tuition hike.

The money’s there, just ask a chancellor.

Editorial cartoon by Steve Kelley (Creators Syndicate)