Throughout their college career most students are burdened with money woes, but the University of California’s top employees are sitting pretty and cashing in on big salaries and other perks.

The San Francisco Chronicle began reporting on undocumented information regarding salaries and other benefits a few months ago. Finally, they got the proof they needed to unveil that the UC executives and Board of Regents have simply stopped being honest with the public.

A recent audit conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, an auditor outside the university, focused on 32 administrative jobs and confirmed that employees are reaping indulgent benefits. For example, the audit reported that managers continued to collect auto allowances while on sabbatical.

PriceWaterhouse Coopers also found omissions in the UC’s annual reports regarding payroll. There’s plenty more where that came from and for the past 10 years UC executives and the Board of Regents have been hiding behind the curtains and avoiding public disclosure.

We’re not talking small numbers here either. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, UC executive V. Wayne Kennedy, who was a former senior vice president for business and finance, retired in April 2001 and his annual pension was $165,564. Then, he remained on the payroll as “special adviser to laboratory management,” which brought in $65,000 in addition to his pension. You’d think this would catch someone’s attention. It’s incredibly surprising that such extravagant salaries could slip under the radar.

Also, in the audit it was noted that top management did not report their benefits to the Internal Revenue Service on their W-2 forms. In general, it’s a bold move to try and slide things past the IRS but more importantly, where was the IRS on this subject? What a letdown knowing the IRS didn’t catch on to the UC’s scheme.

In an attempt to acknowledge their mistakes, the UC addressed the audit on their Web site, stating that they are creating an action plan to establish committees to make sure this sort of thing never happens again. They also want to make public records more accessible. The audit did not blame anyone but it’s clear the UC was not clear with its compensation practices and it has lost some of the public’s trust.

However, old habits die hard. Once the media coverage dies down, there could be slips in the system and the same scenario could reappear. After all, they managed to get away with it for 10 years.