President's Report 2007
Message from the President
Dear Loyolan,
It is my pleasure to provide you with the 2007 Loyola University Chicago President's Report. This is the first time we are including the report in your alumni magazine, and we hope you find the information useful and interesting. This fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2007, has been another outstanding year for Loyola. As we continue to provide our students with an exceptional Jesuit education, we strive to remain fiscally sound to ensure a bright future for our University and all those it touches.
In the fiscal year just ended, the University generated an operating surplus of $48.6 million. We reinvested these funds by creating or augmenting endowments for Centers of Excellence, chairs, professorships, scholarships, and grants; and by maintaining properties. Additionally, the University is investing in new capital projects such as the Information Commons, which, when it opens in January, will serve as a central place of study for our student population.
Net assets increased by $120 million, or 22 percent. The University's endowment benefited from strong investment returns of 19.5 percent. This fund has doubled in size over the last four years, and we have confidence that the portfolio is reasonably well–diversified and will continue to perform well over time. Enrollment has increased dramatically with an incoming class of nearly 2,900, including over 700 transfer students. This year we had a notable 20,000 applicants—up 15 percent from last year. Overall, the University enrolls more than 15,500 students, which now makes Loyola the largest comprehensive Catholic university in the nation. With our current enrollment, we have reached capacity and now plan to exert greater focus on improving the academic depth of the student body. In recognition of our enhanced academic standing and strengthened financial position, the University also enjoyed a credit rating upgrade by Moody's Investors Service, which will contribute further to our capabilities by lowering our interest costs. Future increases in unrestricted net assets will position the University for another upgrade.
Another measure of our success is the continued support provided to us by you, our loyal alumni and friends, as well as the corporations and foundations who have helped sustain us with their philanthropic dollars. These gifts contribute greatly to life at the University, and I am delighted to inform you that total contributions for the fiscal year ending June 30 for Loyola University Chicago and Loyola Medicine were in excess of $31 million, with alumni donors increasing by almost a thousand participants to 11,245.
While our finances and enrollment levels are strong, there are always new opportunities and challenges ahead of us. One significant challenge is the pressure to keep tuition affordable and our programs accessible. The tuition rate is influenced significantly by institutionally provided financial aid, general inflation, and capital investment needs. The University awarded scholarships and grants totaling $80 million in 2006 and $92 million in 2007, most of which was funded by the University. Of the $92 million awarded in fiscal 2007, $73 million went to full–time undergraduate students for whom institutional resources were the sole source of grant monies. Our need for scholarship and grant support is growing while federal and state support remains static. The best way to ensure our ability to provide all students with an affordable education is to increase our endowment resources with the help of philanthropic support.
I hope you find this report informative. Please know that the fiscal health of the University is fortified by the generosity of its supporters—faithful alumni, faculty, staff, students, parents, and friends of Loyola, including our corporate and foundation partners. We greatly appreciate your help and look forward to seeing you at events throughout the year. I wish you and your family a blessed Thanksgiving and Christmas season.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Garanzini, S.J.
President