Theme 6
Ensure Financial Stability
Approximately 95% of Monmouth’s annual operating budget relies on the strength of our enrollment. Our diverse student body consists of 6,000 students (4,450 undergraduate and 1,500 graduates) enrolled in a variety of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs. Immediate priorities for our five-year plan include preparing for the anticipated demographic decline in the number of high school students matriculating to college at the undergraduate level. We will also respond strategically to the graduate and doctoral marketplace by providing support and resources that best support our students and faculty in these programs. We will strive to maintain a competitive price point and high-value academic experience for aspiring Hawks at all levels. Now, more than ever, Monmouth needs to strengthen its financial footing to make Monmouth an accessible option for students in the state of New Jersey, and beyond. In order to do so, Monmouth will embark on an ambitious, but exciting, comprehensive fundraising campaign to take our students now and in the future to even greater heights, raising the profile of the University and the programs within.
Re-set the University, financially and organizationally, to align with current and projected enrollment realities.
- Review enrollment management strategies and opportunities to strengthen recruitment by enrolling at least 925 undergraduate students each fall.
- Strengthen the transfer student transition experience, specifically surrounding credit transferability from community colleges and other four-year institutions, with a goal to incrementally grow the number of transfer students each semester.
- Review enrollment strategies and opportunities to recruit graduate students with increasingly high academic standards to a goal of 625 graduate students each fall.
- Assess the organizational structure of non-academic units to ensure efficient use of University resources (e.g., financial, human, etc.).
Further solidify the University’s financial position in a dynamic higher-education environment.
- Evaluate the strategic use of debt financing to support capital projects.
- Implement ongoing evaluation and assessment of annual operating budget based on enrollment forecast to ensure at least a 4% operating revenue ratio, which is the industry threshold for positive operating results.
- Keep key financial ratios significantly above industry mediums as a measure of relative financial strength.
- Create an Innovation Fund that will consider and support revenue-producing initiatives outside of the normal budgeting process.
Increase non-tuition-based sources of funding to ensure both student access and institutional success.
- Conduct a comprehensive campaign aimed at raising $75 million in gifts and pledges during the course of this strategic plan, while ensuring efficiency in Advancement operations.
- Conduct a comprehensive review of our events fundraising strategies and develop two annual marquee fundraising events, with a goal to raise $1 million in support of student success.
- Double the alumni donor participation giving rate as defined by U.S. News & World Report to 8% by the end of this plan.
- Conduct a feasibility study on the possibility of constructing an inn and conference center on the main campus.