A 16 percent increase in Dartmouth's endowment and other financial successes have led to a projected operating budget surplus of over $5 million for fiscal year 2004, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Adam Keller said.
Keller, the College's chief financial officer, said Dartmouth plans for a balanced budget every year and that the projected surplus resulted from the strong investment performance, unexpected increases in alumni giving and success in controlling expenses.
College Provost Barry Scherr noted that it was not yet determined how the surplus funds will be used.
"We would decide how to allocate any surplus after the current fiscal year closes. Because this is a one-time surplus, the money would probably be divided among some one-time expense items and the remainder put in reserves for future needs," he said.
Dartmouth's endowment increased by 16 percent instead of the projected 8 percent, and income from working capital, which the College generates through investments in the short-term financial markets, exceeded expectations despite low interest rates, according to Keller. The recent gains put the market value of the endowment at about $2.4 billion.
The Dartmouth College Fund received larger donations from alumni and the alumni classes than the College had budgeted, including a record-breaking donation of $14.8 million from the Class of 1978 at its 25th reunion last June. $6.2 million of that donation was in unrestricted gifts -- a record for unrestricted donations -- that went directly toward the operating budget.
Keller also lauded the College's departments and divisions for "managing and containing expenses," which contributed to the budget surplus.
The surplus represents less than 2 percent of Dartmouth's annual operating budget of over $300 million. Official budget figures will not be available until the fiscal year ends on June 30.
The budget surplus is a sharp contrast to woes experienced last year, when several years of poor endowment performance led to cuts in departments across campus.
The budget cuts were necessitated after Dartmouth's endowment stagnated in 2001 and dropped by 5.7 percent in 2002, following a 40 percent increase two years earlier.
The endowment increased by 2 percent during the 2003 fiscal year -- the only university endowment in the Ivy League to lose market value, according to a survey of the National Association of College and University Business Officers.
