PUC’s Financial Outlook
Posted on 18. Nov, 2009 by Nick Dibben in Campus
PUC’s financial future has recently been an item of discussion for many people. A lot of these financial issues were brought to the fore last year as it was announced that employees of the college, other than student workers, would be expected to take a 10 day furlough this year. This would serve to reduce PUC’s expenses to a more acceptable level. Another plan that was put into place was to reduce the college’s portion of payments into employee’s retirement accounts.
PUC has three main sources of income. The first is tuition money from the students, second are donations made from graduates and others, and the third source of income is subsidies from the church. The place where the biggest effect has been felt has been in tuition and giving. Since a lot of families have less money to pay tuition, PUC has had to pick up some of the slack with increased financial assistance for students. The global economic crisis has also reduced donations given to PUC, because people have either lost money, or they are worried about what is going to happen with it. This has led to a reduction in the donations that PUC has received. California’s own budget crisis has meant that Cal-Grant has been frozen with no increases in the money available for tuition assistance for the past while.
Another problem that PUC has faced that causes financial problems is that there has been a drop in enrollment since the school year of 04-05. At the beginning of the 04-05 school year there were 1542 students enrolled at PUC. Since 04-05 enrollment has dropped to a 20 year low in 08-09 of 1278. It is not hard to see how this affects PUC financial health.
There is, however, good news for PUC’s financial future. In an economic crisis, people tend to go back to school. This means that for the year 09-10 PUC’s enrollment has actually gone up by around 100 students. Needless to say, this means good things for PUC’s financial health, and that is reflected by the positive outlooks of the administration.
One of the more controversial measures taken by PUC to reduce financial strain was the ten day mandatory furlough for all employees, along with the reduction of retirement payments. However, because of the increase in enrollment and the general increase in financial outlooks the world over, this has improved. Pending board approval, the amount of furlough has been reduced from ten to five days, and the proposed reductions in retirement payments have not materialized.
Overall then, while PUC has had better financial times, things are definitely looking up. The furloughs and reductions in benefits have not turned out to be as bad as everybody expected. With the new ideas that the new president, Heather Knight, has brought, John Collins, Vice President for Financial Administration, said that “I feel like we have turned a corner.” With the increase in enrollment and a generally better financial outlook in the world as a whole, PUC’s financial future has potential.
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