To: The NYU Community

From: NYU Provost Katherine Fleming and Executive Vice President Martin Dorph

Date: Monday, May 14, 2018

Introduction

Pending Board of Trustees approval, the operating budget for fiscal year 2018-19 (for all parts of the University other than NYU Langone Health) is $3.376 billion, 3.1% greater than this year. The increase is largely due to routine growth in salaries and other University expenses, and planned growth in programs and priorities, as well as expected growth in NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai (no funds for which come from the NYU NY campus).

The proposed capital plan – for major multi-year investments in new facilities, technologies, and equipment – projects spending of about $769 million in 2018-2019 and $2.765 billion for FY2020 through FY2027.

The Operating Budget

The proposed operating budget for 2018-19 represents ongoing annual spending for programs, personnel, goods, and services, and programmatic and institutional priorities. Among the priorities that will receive funding in the coming year are funding for the startup of new academic and online programs in a number of schools and colleges; investments in new science facilities; affordability measures (including a third year of restrained growth in undergraduate charges); support for programs to improve student retention and graduation rates; information security; and support for diversity and inclusion efforts, sustainability efforts, and Work-Life initiatives (such as the new childcare subsidy for full-time faculty). 

Cost-of-Attendance and Affordability: Mindful of the ongoing focus President Andrew Hamilton has put on affordability, for 2018-19 we are once again proposing to restrain the increase in cost-of-attendance (tuition, fees, room, and board) for most undergraduate programs; for 2018-19, the overall increase will be 2.7%. This reflects an increase in tuition and fees of 2.7%, and an increase in room and board of 2.8% for most entering freshmen.

The result of restraining increases over the last three years is the lowest three-year increase in more than 20 years. It is also considerably lower than the increases posted for the comparable period by the private colleges and universities against which we typically compete for students.

Scholarship Aid: The undergraduate scholarship aid budget – which currently is $429 million – will increase by 3.9% – or $17 million – for 2018-19.

Stipends for fully-funded Ph.D. students are expected to increase by 2.25% for 2018-19.

This year, NYU has already raised over $200 million for the Momentum Campaign. We will close the campaign by the end of August and have exceeded the $1 billion goal in support of improved scholarship aid. More details will be forthcoming in the fall with the campaign’s official end.

Annual Merit Increases and Other Compensation: For 2018-19, the annual merit increase (AMI) pool will be 2.5% for tenured and tenure-track faculty, full-time continuing contract faculty, and administrators.

Unionized employees – adjunct faculty, clerical workers, public safety officers, and graduate workers, among others – will receive increases from 2.5% to 2.75%, in line with their collective bargaining agreements.

Consistent with previous affordability-related commitments, student workers will receive a minimum of $15.00/hr beginning September 1, 2018.

Fundraising and Endowment: In 2016-17, NYU raised $648 million. Between September 1, 2017, and the beginning of May 2018, NYU had raised $481 million, putting us ahead of last year at this time and on our way to achieving the $600 million FY18 fundraising goal. As noted previously, over $200 million was raised towards scholarship aid through the Momentum Campaign, including 20 gifts of $1 million or more.

The value of the endowment as of August 31, 2017 was $4.1 billion, up from $3.6 billion a year prior. The endowment is expected to contribute approximately $133 million to the University’s annual operating budget.

The Capital Plan

Major ongoing and planned future projects include:

  • 370 Jay St., which will serve as a hub for media, technology, and the arts in Brooklyn. Its first occupants – CUSP – moved in this year. The remaining occupants – Tandon’s departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science and Engineering; MAGNET; Steinhardt’s Music and Audio Research Laboratory and Educational Communication and Technology programs; and Tisch’s ITP program and the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music – are expected to move in over the course of summer 2019.
  • 181 Mercer St., which will provide dozens of new classrooms; new, specialized performing arts instructional spaces; student housing; faculty housing; and a replacement athletics facility for Coles.
  • 708 Broadway/404 Lafayette St., which will be the home for the College of Global Public Health.
  • Rogers Hall, a principal instructional and lab building at the Tandon School of Engineering, will be renovated and upgraded.
  • The Co-Generation Plant, which will be upgraded and expanded to allow for additional high-efficiency, low-emission electrical generation capacity for the superblocks.
  • FAS Science Facilities, which will entail renovations in the Waverly, Brown, and Silver Buildings
  • Ongoing Renewal and Replacement of information technology, infrastructure, and equipment in existing buildings.

Debt rating reaffirmed: Last year, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded its rating of NYU bonds. In April 2018, both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s reaffirmed their ratings (Aa2 and AA-, respectively) and indicated a Stable Outlook.