Assumption: Numbers Down For 2013
Assumption College's surplus fell by $2.1 million in fiscal 2013, while freshman enrollment slipped nearly 10 percent, according to figures released by the college.
A 4.5 percent year-over-year increase in the Worcester-based college’s operating costs caused Assumption's unrestricted surplus to tumble from $2.65 million in fiscal 2012 to $540,000 this year, according to the school’s fiscal 2013 financial statement, completed earlier this month. Unrestricted accounting factors in donations from the time the money was pledged, said school officials, and therefore provides the most accurate portrayal of an institution’s financial condition.
A $2-million increase in financial aid costs and a 7.5-percent jump in health insurance premiums contributed to the declining surplus, the school said.
“We’re not able to just charge whatever we want anymore,” said Chris McCarthy, Assumption’s chief financial officer.
And more challenges may be on the horizon. After bringing in roughly 560 freshmen each year for several years, just 510 freshmen started at Assumption in fall 2013, McCarthy said.
The board of trustees has directed the school to stay in the black in 2014, so McCarthy said Assumption is considering either holding off on filling or eliminating vacant positions.
The school is also trying to recruit students across a broader geographic swath to minimize the effects on a dwindling college-aged population in New England. Assumption currently draws more than 60 percent of its students from Massachusetts and less than 10 percent from outside New England, the school said.
Assumption has stationed full-time admissions officers in Providence and New York City, McCarthy said, and is trying to strengthen its ties to Puerto Rico, which sends a healthy number of students to Assumption each year.
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