By Julie Wernau | The president and chief executive officer at Hoffman Estates-based Career Education Corp. saw a nearly $1 million increase in his annual compensation last year, according to the company’s proxy statement filed today.

Gary E. McCullough saw his total compensation jump 21 percent to $5.44 million from last year’s $4.5 million. His base salary of $800,000 remained the same while other executives saw increases of up to 7.7 percent.