Swarthmore College’s board of managers is taking the unusual step of adopting a three-months-only budget starting in July as it faces federal funding uncertainties, writes Susan Snyder for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
That includes a potential endowment tax increase from 1.4 percent to 14 percent that could cost the college between $18 million and $28 million more a year.
That would raise the tax Swarthmore now pays from $2 million to $20 or $30 million annually..
The college is also looking at a possible loss of millions in financial aid.
Three federally funded research grants and a faculty fellowship for Swarthmore have already been terminated.
There’s also the potential loss of its international students, about 15 percent of its student body, because of possible Trump Administration bans on enrolling international students.
“In light of these financial uncertainties, and to avoid overcorrecting before we have a clearer picture of the conditions shaping the college’s finances, the board decided to move forward with an interim operating budget to carry us through the first three months of the new fiscal year,” said Swarthmore College President Valerie Smith.
The hope is to adopt a more permanent spending plan in the fall once the federal budget is established.
Find out more details about Swarthmore College’s federal finance concerns in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
