If you want power and fame, run for governor. But if you want wealth, be a professor, a bean counter or a turnpike czar.

At least 96 state employees are paid more than Gov. Ed Rendell, whose salary is $174,435. All together, at least 656 have salaries in excess of $150,000. At least 3,836 are paid more than $100,000 a year.

That's a big bill footed by taxpayers, and government watchdog groups say high salaries should be scrutinized carefully. The state employees' bosses, of course, say they earn every penny.

John C. Cavanaugh, chancellor of the State System of Higher Education, tops the list with a $327,500 salary. That's 7 1/2 times as much as the average Pennsylvanian makes in a year. Still, it's much less than the $558,378 that the state of Georgia pays the chancellor of its university system.

With a salary of $320,000, James Preston, executive director of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, isn't far behind Mr. Cavanaugh.

Stephen M. Curtis, president of the Community College of Philadelphia, comes in third with compensation of $227,584, including a $37,500 housing and car allowance.

Other Pennsylvania state workers earning more than the governor include judges, university professors, seven investment officers for government employee retirement systems and two legislative aides, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found in a review of salaries from dozens of state agencies that responded to right-to-know requests in February and March.