UD Budget Grows in Revenue, Construction Projects

November 30, 2019November 30, 2019 Sean Newhouse

Cover photo of the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception courtesy of Sean Newhouse

In October, the University of Dayton released its budget report for the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

The total assets of the university are $1.77 billion. Revenues totaled $595 million, while expenditures totaled $564 million, for a 5.2% operating margin. The endowment grew from $567.3 million in 2018 to $603.1 million in 2019.

The largest source of revenue is tuition and fees, which account for 33.7%. There was 17.1% growth in graduate tuition, thanks to online graduate programs and UDGlobal, a program to help international students at UD.

UD projects the revenue source from graduate programs to continue to grow, said Andrew Horner, executive vice president of business and administrative services.

The University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) is the second largest source of revenue at 28.6%. It totaled $11.4 million in revenue growth over 2018, and the total sponsored research was $170.9 million.

To rely less on revenue from tuition, UD has a strategic, long-term goal to diversify the sources of university revenue. For example, sponsored research grew from 14% of total revenue in 2014 to 29% in 2019.

The operating expenses for the year grew by 7.6% from $524.5 million to $564.2 million. The highest operating expenditure is salaries and benefits, comprising 53.6% and growing 6.6% from 2018. Additionally, due to the increased activity at the Research Institute, expenses for contract services and maintenance and supplies increased as well.

Several expense areas decreased, including supplies, printing, photocopying and some contracted services.

UD received an A+ Stable rating from S&P, although the higher education industry is negative overall for both S&P and Moody’s. Both companies publish financial research and analyses.

The university has also been working on a series of major capital projects. Phase II of the UD Arena project has been completed, and Phase III will be completed in fiscal year 2020. The project totaled $76.2 million and is the largest in the university’s history.

Other construction projects include the $10.7 million renovation of the interior of Roesch Library, and the new office building at 1401 N. Main St. to house the Fitz Center, The Dayton Foundation and the Dayton Development Coalition. The Dayton Foundation helps manage charitable donations for the community, and the Dayton Development Coalition is an economic development organization that helps to support job creation.

UD is also continuing to work with Premier Health on developing the former fairgrounds as a mixed-use development. The new space is called onMain, and it has been coined “Dayton’s Imagination District,” with plans for commercial and residential areas.

The $13.5 million renovation of the former Music/Theatre Building began in November to become the new home for the Department of Computer Science. The building will include classrooms, labs and collaborative spaces.

The university entered an agreement in September to sell its building in China, which formally housed the UD China Institute. The deal is anticipated to close before the end of the fiscal year.

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