Kent State’s “Other Income”
Paying for a top tier education at a college level is more expensive than ever before. At Kent State University one academic year (12-18 hours/semester) is $10,000 for a Ohio resident and $18,376 for an out of State undergraduate. On top of that, room and board costs reach a little of $10,000 a year as well. With this being tuition and fees alone, it makes you wonder the total worth of Kent State University and where all their money comes from.
In the year 2016 Kent State University’s revenue total was $443,575,100. At the Main Campus alone, Kent State nearly brought in half a billion dollars. The fact that this is the second largest school in the State of Ohio this number makes sense. Where the question lies pertains to where this money entering the University comes from.
Here is a breakdown of Kent State University’s total revenues in the 2016 Fiscal Year:
| REVENUES: | Budget | Budget 2 | Change from 2015 |
| Fiscal Year 2015 | Fiscal Year 2016 | Prior Year | |
| State Appropriation | $102,082,300 | $109,360,590 | $7,278,290 |
| Tuition and Fees | 311,079,360 | 322,564,145 | 11,484,785 |
| Investment Income | 5,000,000 | 5,000,000 | – |
| Recovery of Indirect Costs | 4,200,000 | 3,268,200 | (931,800) |
| Other Income | 2,961,040 | 3,382,165 | 421,125 |
| TOTAL FUNDS AVAILABLE | 425,322,700 | 443,575,100 | 18,252,400 |
The majority of the revenue comes from Tuition and Fees as well as State Appropriation. Because Kent State is a public University, this is where the State appropriation comes into play, as the University is predominately funded by public means. What stands out is the University made $3,382,165 under the category of “Other Income.” The Budget Office was unable to tell me where specifically this large sum of money can be traced back to.
Going back three years into the University’s Budget Book to 2014 highlighting Kent States “Other Income” revenue:
From the records I was given access to, the Fiscal Year 2016 by far saw the most money coming in under the category “Other Income.” Oddly enough, the money being brought in when from $3,106,000 in 2014, to $2,961,040 in 2015. Exploring if this “up one year, down the next” trend continued I attempted to go back further than just 2014, but the files that were available were “corrupt”
While looking back through other data sets to trace “Other Income” levels I was able to focus on the “Investment Income” as an alternative.
In 2013, Kent State University brought in more than $1 million more in investments than a year later in 2014.
| Revenues: | Restated | Original | ||
| Budget | Budget | Change from | Percentage | |
| Fiscal Year 2013 | Fiscal Year 2014 | Prior Year | Change | |
| Investment Income | 6,300,000 | 5,000,000 | (1,300,000) | -20.63% |
A drop off of more than 20% in one calendar year in terms of investment income coming into the University is somewhat of an alarming statistic. Especially, because after 2013 saw over $6 million in investments, the next three years were flat-lined at $5 million even.
As Kent State University continues to grow, the investments being brought in have stalled, and mystery money under the category of “Other Income” have reached new heights.
