Dive Brief:
- A recent audit of Duke University’s financial statements found ample fiscal resources and a lack of justification for institutional cuts despite disruptions to federal research funding and a looming endowment tax hike.
- The audit, conducted for Duke’s American Association of University Professors chapter and released last week, highlighted Duke’s strong credit ratings and cash flows, rising net assets and more than $14 billion in unrestricted reserves.
- Pointing to the audit, the Duke AAUP in a press release last week slammed the administration for employee reductions and budget cuts and plans to rally with university employee unions and campus groups on Friday.
Dive Insight:
Howard Bunsis, an accounting professor at Eastern Michigan University who conducted the audit, has reached similar conclusions about other universities over the years, including recently the University of North Carolina, Wayne State University and University of Southern California.
With Duke, Bunsis concluded that the private North Carolina institution was in “very strong financial condition.”
“Any claims of budget ‘holes’ or ‘deficits’ or needs for budget cuts are not supported, as there are significant totally discretionary reserves and annual excess cash flows that are the result of Duke taking in more cash than it spends,” Bunsis wrote in a Jan. 27 presentation for Duke faculty…