Understanding the Challenge Understanding Costs
Understanding Funding
NOTE: The information on this page is for FY20 and FY21. For the most current SBU financial data, visit the Budget, Financial Planning and Analysis website.
Stony Brook University is a large and complex organization composed of multiple parts. The graph above is our best attempt to simplify and clarify accounting and financial requirements that can be difficult to understand. This graph shows SBU’s funding in FY20 and FY21 (bolded).
For example, total operating revenue does not include large portions of our state support including payment on debt and fringe benefits that pay for all faculty and staff benefits such as healthcare, retirement and so on. On the other hand, our financial statements do not address — for a variety of accounting and legal reasons — the $644 million in our operating budget that supports our Clinical Practice.
Operating Budgets
While the first effects of COVID-19 were felt in the final quarter of FY20, primarily in refunded fees and cleaning expenses, the FY21 budget anticipated a far more significant impact including a decrease in state support, international student tuition and residence hall revenue.
Due to decreasing revenue and other continuing impacts of COVID-19 affecting our finances, the budget relied more heavily on our reserves to ensure that Stony Brook was able to provide a safe and fulfilling academic experience for our students and faculty.
The total academic and research operating budget decreased from $984 million to $977 million in the FY21 budget. A key factor in this reduction is the $23.4 million decrease in the dormitory revenue budget which assumes 25% decreased student occupancy due to the COVID-19 impact.
These charts also show the increase to Stony Brook’s utilization of reserve funds on the academic and research side. Due to expected decreases in enrollment from international students as a result of travel restrictions, combined with decreased housing occupancy, the university expects to draw $59 million in reserves to continue operations and services.
The hospital and clinical practices budget increased slightly, from $2.5 billion to $2.6 billion, for 2020/21. In the FY21 chart, Clinic Revenue and Clinic Fee for Services have been combined into a single line item—Clinic Fee for Services—reflecting all revenue generated from Clinical Services.
Note: Data has been updated as of May 28, 2021.
Understanding the Challenge Understanding Costs