Trustees: Financial Benchmarks, Property

TRUSTEES HEAR REPORT ON FINANCIAL BENCHMARKS, BUY LAND

COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees on 
Friday (3/6) heard a report about financial comparisons with other 
universities.  The board also purchased land for the medical center 
and conducted other business.

Official reports on financial benchmarks

The Ohio State University has significantly less financial 
resources per student to work with than its benchmark institutions, 
William J. Shkurti, vice president for finance, told trustees.  
Funding for the university particularly lags in state support and 
sponsored research, he said.

At the same time, Ohio State's tuition and fees also are 
significantly below the averages of benchmark institutions and the 
other public universities in Ohio, Shkurti said.

Shkurti's report examined financial indicators at Ohio State 
vs. nine campuses to which the university compares itself.  The 
campuses are highly ranked academically and comparable to Ohio 
State in mission, size and configuration.

The institutions are Pennsylvania State University and the 
universities of Minnesota, Washington, Texas, Michigan, Illinois, 
Arizona, Wisconsin and California, Los Angeles.

In revenue per full-time equivalent student -- which adjusts 
for part-time and full-time students -- Ohio State ranks 23 percent 
below the average of the nine institutions, with revenue of 
$21,953.  The University of Michigan has the highest revenue, at 
$37,118, and the average is $28,349.

"Much of the reason the university trails the average," 
Shkurti said, "is that it trails the others in state 
appropriations," where the $7,375 per student is 15.1 percent, or 
$1,111, below the benchmark mean.  Revenue from grants and 
contracts per student is $6,158, 71.2 percent, or $4,413, below the 
benchmark mean, he said.

"Reductions in state budget appropriations during the early 
1990s have taken a toll," Shkurti said.  For example, state 
appropriations, in constant dollars, during fiscal year 1996 were 
$7,375, still below the fiscal year 1991 level of $7,870.  During 
the same period, reliance on tuition and fees continued to increase 
in importance, going up 29.8 percent from an average $4,430 to an 
average $5,751 for all in- and out-of-state undergraduate and 
graduate students.

Still, annual resident undergraduate tuition and fees at Ohio 
State are 9.1 percent below the average of the benchmark 
institutions, Shkurti said.  Resident undergraduates at Ohio State 
pay $3,687.  The average tuition is $4,051 and the high is $6,253 
at the University of Michigan.  While resident undergraduate 
tuition is relatively low, Shkurti said, it is relatively high for 
non-resident graduate and professional students, ranking third 
highest among the benchmark institutions.

In addition, Ohio State's annual resident undergraduate 
tuition is eighth among the 13 public universities in Ohio -- 7.2 
percent below the state average of $3,943, Shkurti said.  Miami, 
Kent State, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Ohio University, Toledo and 
Wright State all have higher tuition than Ohio State.

Despite the lower revenue, compared with its benchmark 
institutions, Ohio State spends slightly above the average for 
instruction -- partly because of the financial impact of the early 
retirement plan for faculty in fiscal year 1995 -- and well above 
average on public service, Shkurti said.  At the same time, the 
university spends well below the benchmark average for all other 
non-instructional services, he said.

Non-instructional spending is 66 percent of the benchmark 
average for academic support, 70 percent of average for 
institutional support, 64 percent of average for physical plant, 52 
percent of average for research, 68 percent of average for 
scholarships and 80 percent of average for student services.

"Between the early 1990s and mid-1990s, Ohio State closed the 
gap in instructional expenditures with its benchmark institutions, 
but it didn't make much progress in non-instructional 
expenditures," Shkurti said.

Trustees purchase property for medical center

Trustees purchased 6.5 acres of land near Hilliard and west of 
the city of Columbus.  The land will be used to build a 50,000-
square-foot ambulatory care clinic for the University Medical 
Center.

The purchase price for the 6.5 acres is $1.4 million, or 
$216,000 an acre.  The seller is Bob Evans Farms Inc.  Recent 
appraisals valued the property at $220,000 and $230,000 per acre.

Funds for the purchase will come from University Hospitals, 
and will be repaid from net receipts from the operation of the 
property.

The property is located at the northwest corner of the 
intersection of Feder Road and Evans Way Court, just west of the 
intersection of Hilliard-Rome and Feder roads.

Miscellaneous business

In other business, trustees:

-- Granted an easement to the city of Columbus for 
construction and street improvements on King Avenue.  The city will 
pay the university approximately $48,000 for the strip of land, 
which runs from the Olentangy River to just past Cannon Drive.

-- Approved 224 contracts totaling $17 million for research 
projects funded in January.

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Contact:William J. Shkurti, vice president for finance,
(614) 292-9232.

Written by David Bhaerman, University Communications,
(614) 292-8422.