The disparity between the pay cheques of Tertiary Education heads and their staff is in the spotlight.

Chief executives have seen an average increase of 3.4 percent during the 2014/15 year, but there are a few stand-outs.

President of the Tertiary Education Union Sandra Grey says Auckland University's vice-chancellor now makes more than $680,000 a year.

At the same time, some staff at the university only earn $36,000 a year.

Grey asked "should they be taking pay increases when they offering nowhere near the type of increase to their staff who are the ones on the ground?"