Periodic Review Report to the Commission on Higher Education Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools June 1, 2005 Bernard M

Financial Projections

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  The bulk of funding for CUNY Colleges including Baruch comes from tuition and state aid. From year to year, the State’s fiscal situation changes in unpredictable ways. Further, we do not know what the University’s allocation from the State will be which, in turn, leaves Baruch uncertain about its own allocation.
  
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  In general, we do not have the authority to manage our tuition rates, which limits our ability to adjust our revenues to meet expected expenses. As of this writing, CUNY is developing a plan to cover the University’s budget shortfall for the next fiscal year. It is likely that the plan will include a tuition increase for graduate students, though this will not be known until late June.
  
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  Our operating budget is based on an expense allocation from the University. This allocation is based on two things, our historical allocation and a revenue target. If the College exceeds the target, it is able to spend or save the excess. The revenue target, however, continues to increase substantially and in unpredictable ways. This makes projecting our operating revenues and expenses difficult and eliminates financial benefits that have come from increased tuition.
  

The projections shown in Table 12 were based on a series of assumptions. For the 2005-06 fiscal year, we assumed a $40 per credit increase for all graduate programs. For 2006-07, we assumed a student mix change that represents a 2% increase in graduate students and a corresponding increase in undergraduates. For 2007-08 we assumed that undergraduate tuition will increase by $125 per semester for full-time students, or $10 per credit for part-time students.