Reply to Which top colleges have a significant budget deficit? Which ones are red flags?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We're compiling a college list now with our junior. Some colleges we've come across and researched have significant budget deficits. We are trying to figure out which ones to worry about.

We know that a college budget deficit can be a significant red flag, particularly if the uni is a small, private, or regional college with a low endowment. And a structural, long-term deficit often leads to reduced academic quality, fewer student services, etc.

Here are the colleges with budget deficits that we are aware of (see below). Are we missing any others we should know about? Which ones to truly worry about (I'm assuming some big ones will figure it out with its endowment but not sure if that's smart thinking)?

Colleges with Budget Deficits (rough amounts reported from the past year):

USC: $200 million
UChicago: $160 million
Stanford $140 million
Penn State: $140 million
Harvard: $113 million
American U: $80 million
GW: $76 million
NYU: $71 million
Boston U: $30 million
Middlebury: $14 million
WashU (St. Louis): $7 million
Brandeis: $2 million
Pitzer: $1.3 million
[/quote]

It’s reported Chicago is $6 billion in debt[/quote]

I don't have the time or energy to look it up but I wouldn't be surprised if Chicago has $6BN of debt outstanding between the university and the medical center. The headline figure might be scary and that could be on the high side but in isolation that number is absolutely meaningless. How much annual revenue do they have across those two? How much do they have in the endowment and other reserves? Comparing schools with academic medical centers baked into their financials with schools that don't is not apples to apples. Their finances are far from perfect but all of the alarmist posts are off base, and the numbers people are throwing out are pointless.

This is why you leave it to the professionals.[/quote]

Throwing random numbers, grades, and statements around on the internet without being properly informed and read is a bad idea. That goes for all schools.[/quote]

$6 billion is not a random number ($6.4 billion to be exact). 60% of the endowment.  https://provost.uchicago.edu/actions-budget?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
Their debt does include the medical center, but seems they have separate accounting for their budget, which is $128 million in deficit. [/quote]

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