In a faculty meeting that took place on April 12, President Ronald Liebowitz provided a statement following the recent Board of Trustees meeting regarding the current and future financial state of the University.

Brandeis has had seven straight years of a balanced budget. In other words, its revenues have either exceeded or balanced with its expenses, resulting in either an increase in money or a net zero balance.

The budget that was approved by the Board of Trustees as of last April showed that there should be a three million dollar surplus, meaning that the University should have brought in more revenue than the amount of money spent. However, the incomplete fiscal year of 2024 has a projected deficit of two million dollars. 

Liebowitz explained that this five million dollar turnaround is a result of the lack of revenue from graduate student tuition. He went on to describe the projections for the 2025 fiscal year that also point to an operating deficit. According to Liebowitz, the projected revenue for masters programs is 17 million dollars lower than it had been prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

These numbers result in a total budget of 400 million dollars with the discretionary of the budget totaling to 225 million. According to Liebowitz, “that is a big mountain to climb.” He explained that the projected revenue was up, but not enough to be able to cover the decline in tuition from graduate students. Liebowitz stated “we have plans to address this issue, but a turnaround takes more than a year and so next year looks very tight.”

He also expressed that an official report of the Board of Trustees meeting will be released, but was not available to The Justice by press time.