Syracuse University’s 2018 annual fiscal report revealed one of the largest operating surpluses in the university’s history.

Expenses increased by 2.3% and revenues increased by 5.4%, leading to a surplus of more than $92 million, according to the report. For the 2017 fiscal year, SU’s operating surplus was $60.2 million, according to the 2017 fiscal report.

Here is a breakdown of SU’s finances:

Operating revenues

In the 2018 fiscal year, operating revenues, or total money made from university operations, increased by $54 million to more than $1 billion. More than 57% of revenue, or $600 million, came from increased enrollment and increases in cost of tuition, fees and room and board. This represents an increase of almost $45 million in revenue from net tuition and fees from the 2017 fiscal year.

Auxiliary revenue decreased by around 6% between 2017 and 2018 fiscal years, a drop of more than $54 million. That represents money made from SU Food Services, Housing, Meal Plan and ID Card Services, the bookstore, WAER Public Media and trademark licensing.

Revenue classified as “other” increased by $56.4 million between the two years, more than 5% of the total operating revenue. The report does not detail the source of revenue classified as “other.”

Operating expenses

Operating expenses, or money spent for university operations, increased by $21.3 million in the 2018 fiscal year to nearly $955 million. Instruction and departmental research made up around 41.6% of the expenses with only a slight increase of $7.9 million from the previous year.

Spending for student services nearly doubled between the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years, from about $62.5 million to about $120.5 million. Auxiliary spending decreased by 6%, or around $52 million. The financial report reclassified athletic programs from auxiliary spending to student services spending in the 2018 fiscal year.

Capital spending

Capital spending, or spending on the student experience, increased by more than $10.6 million from the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year. The largest increase between fiscal years was in infrastructure, with a more than 26% increase from 2017, totaling almost $18.6 million.

Spending for student housing and academics decreased between fiscal years, with academics decreasing by $5.8 million and student housing decreasing by more than $2 million.

According to the reports, the largest capital projects of 2018 were Barnes Center at the Arch, the National Veterans Resource Center and various residence hall improvements.

For the 2017 fiscal year, the largest capital projects included accessibility renovations to the Schine Student Center, renovations for four residence halls and improvements to multiple academic buildings.

The 2018 report also highlighted that Invest Syracuse, a $100 million dollar fundraising initiative, is more than halfway to its goal. At Wednesday’s University Senate meeting, Chancellor Kent Syrverud said SU surpassed its two-year Invest Syracuse goal of raising $40 million for financial aid to support socioeconomic diversity.

Published on September 23, 2019 at 10:04 pm

Contact Natalie: nrrubiol@syr.edu