University Budget

Even in challenging and uncertain times, The New School’s priority is to maintain the quality of our world-class education, which inspires and prepares our graduates to create a more just, more beautiful, and better-designed world.

As we plan for the long-term sustainability of the university, we are sharing the information below about what goes into operating The New School. Budgets reveal a great deal; we hope ours shows how we are prioritizing and protecting the integrity of the educational experience we offer and the safety and health of everyone in the community. 

Expenses

Our university is based in the heart of New York City, which provides remarkable opportunities for our students. New York is also one of the most expensive cities in the world. As we approach the end of the 2020 fiscal year, we expect to spend approximately $435 million to operate the university.

Although the university has closed much of campus during the COVID-19 outbreak, most of these costs have not changed. Our greatest expenses, such as facilities and staff, are the same, even as faculty and students have temporarily transitioned to online learning. 

We will also be refunding, on a prorated basis, the housing and dining fees paid by students who left campus in March 2020 because of the coronavirus. We estimate this will total $9 million. 

Salaries

Our most valuable resources are our knowledgeable faculty and dedicated support and administrative staff. Accordingly, salaries and benefits for personnel make up more than half of our budget.* Full-time and part-time faculty salaries and benefits make up 47 percent of total expenditures on salaries, while 5 percent goes to providing work-study opportunities for current students.

In recognition of this vital contribution, The New School has committed to pay continuity for all faculty, staff, and student employees during the coronavirus pandemic, regardless of whether their work can be performed remotely. (Learn more about the university’s response to COVID-19.)

Facilities

In recent years, the university has invested in infrastructure in many ways to reflect our focus on innovation. By far the most prominent example is our University Center — the heart of our urban campus, a model of sustainable architecture, and a space specifically designed for academic and creative convergence and collaboration. 

We also have world-class performance and making facilities, which allow students across the university to learn, create, and inspire. We look forward to making these spaces available again as soon as it is safe for the community to return to campus. Our space-related costs make up 24 percent of our total budget.*

Education

We are dedicated to academic scholarship that goes beyond the conventional, offering students what we believe is a truly new educational experience. The proportion of the university’s spending on its academic programs has increased steadily over time, to 63 percent of our actual costs in fiscal year 2019. This allocation covers everything from faculty salaries and research to scholarships and new programs, all of which keep the university at the front line of creative, interdisciplinary, and experimental pedagogy.

Student Support

Over the last 20 years, we have steadily increased the scholarships and financial aid provided to students, both in amount of support and as a percentage of tuition revenue. In 2000, the university provided $24 million, or 20 percent of tuition revenue, in financial aid and scholarships. In FY19, we gave more than $136 million, or 30.3 percent.

Funding

The New School received $427.4 million in operating revenue in 2019. Like other private universities, we do not receive significant funding from the federal or state government. This means that we are a tuition-dependent university. 

We are actively working on building our non-degree programs — offerings including continuing and executive education — and pursuing business opportunities to reduce the university’s dependence on tuition.

Endowment

The endowment is an investment in the university’s future. Although it is smaller than endowments at many institutions, the university is permitted to spend a small percentage (4 percent) of the endowment on operations each year. Like all other investments, it is subject to market volatility and has dropped precipitously during this pandemic. The Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees manages The New School’s invested assets, including the endowment.

Resilience

Even in difficult times, we remain optimistic about the future of the institution. We are committed to the safety, well-being, and health of everyone in our community as we strive to provide an educational experience we believe is unlike that offered by any other university in the world. 

*Percentages are from actual FY19 results, which are the most recent available. Figures in all graphics are rounded to the nearest percentage point.