2026-27 Operating Budget Summary

2026-27 Operating Budget [PDF]  

On Saturday, May 2, 2026, the Board of Managers adopted the Fiscal Year 2027 operating budget. The budget reflects projected enrollment for the upcoming year and the estimated endowment spending rate, based on the endowment’s market value as of December 31, 2025. The approved budget provides a blueprint of anticipated operating revenues and expenditures. 

There are several elements to the budget worth highlighting:

Enrollment and Term Bill | Financial Aid | Endowment Spending | Gifts and Grants | Other Income | Compensation | Departmental Expenses | Contingency | Capital Expenditures | Debt Service

ENROLLMENT AND TERM BILL

On-campus enrollment is budgeted at 1,682 students for the FY 2027 academic year, with an average of 89 students expected to participate in off-campus study programs. The FY 2027 cost of attendance (term bill) for full-paying students is $95,770. These costs include tuition, housing, food, and mandatory fees, and represent an increase of $5,078 from the FY 2026 academic year.

FINANCIAL AID

The Board approved a $71.1 million financial aid budget for the FY 2027 fiscal year, an increase of 7.4% from FY 2026. The budget reaffirms the College’s commitment, with the announcement of the Swarthmore Tuition Guarantee, to making a Swarthmore education accessible to qualified students of all economic backgrounds. Approximately 57% of Swarthmore students are projected to receive need-based financial aid from the College, with an average award of $77,664 per aided student for FY 2027.

ENDOWMENT SPENDING DISTRIBUTION

The College’s endowment distribution for FY 2026 will be $136.5 million, an increase of 4.9% from FY 2026. The increase in endowment distribution will cover additional operating costs from inflation, including competitive compensation for faculty and staff, higher level of funding for capital improvement projects, and increases to the financial aid budget. The College’s policy is to maintain a spending rate between 3.5% and 5% of the annual value of the endowment.

GIFTS AND GRANTS

This category includes annual giving to the Swarthmore Fund and federal and state support for programs. The budget for the Swarthmore Fund will be $6.8 million, an increase of 25.9% from FY 2026 due to a renewed effort to pursue budget supporting gifts. Federal and state support will be $800,000 for FY 2027, with no expected changes in federal support for student work-study and institutional support from Pennsylvania.

OTHER INCOME

This category includes a variety of income sources such as application fees along with activities from facility rentals, summer housing, and dining and campus store operations. The approved budget will increase to $6.8 million. Income from outside activities and sales from dining operations are the primary drivers of the increase. Interest income on the College’s cash balances, a major component of the category, remains unchanged due to the current inflationary environment. Likewise, events management revenue will remain flat with no significant change in income from summer student housing, external summer camps, and other organizations using campus facilities.  Lastly, the Campus & Community Store will have a slight decrease in revenues resulting from less school supplies and general use book sales.    

COMPENSATION

Faculty and staff compensation is budgeted to grow by 4.1%, driven by inflation, an increase in headcount, and benefits costs. The budget is growing by 3.1% for the faculty and instructional staff salary pool, which is designed to meet the College’s longstanding commitment to pay assistant, associate, and full professors 102.5% of the average of our peer institutions. The College has a long-standing practice of using peer data to determine market-based adjustments to faculty compensation. 

The staff salaries and wages budget will grow by 5.5%. Staff will receive a 3.0% inflationary increase. The budget adds 5.75 funded positions to areas of health, facilities, and career development; and converts two part-time assistant coaches to full time. In addition, the budget contains funding for changes to existing positions to accommodate new requirements  Lastly, the budget includes a pool for adjustments to base salaries for staff position reclassifications, replacements, promotions, and retention. 

We anticipate a 2.6% increase in benefits costs, due to expected changes in cost share for medical coverage expenses that will partially offset growth in health care costs and headcount. 

DEPARTMENTAL EXPENSES

Current expenses, excluding the Inn at Swarthmore operations, will increase by $2.5 million or 4.2%. This year’s budget includes modest growth in several areas including travel and professional development, printing, supplies, and equipment purchases. Additionally, the budget growth accounts for inflationary pressures on food, utilities, insurance, and service contracts. Support for off-campus study expenses will increase to align with anticipated greater enrollment. In addition, continued funding will support student initiatives such as the pilot program to provide laptops to eligible students on financial aid and providing all students and eligible employees with SEPTA rail passes to enable their travel to and from Philadelphia and the surrounding region free of charge. Lastly, the budget includes an annual wage increase for all student workers. 

CONTINGENCY

The contingency will remain unchanged at $1.25 million. Overall, the operating contingency represents approximately 0.5% of the College’s estimated expenditures.

CAPITAL EXPENDITURES

The allocation to the College’s capital budget increased by $436K to $12.0 million. The 2026-27 capital budget was approved by the Board at its February meeting.  

DEBT SERVICE

The College’s debt is all fixed-rate, and the principal and interest expenses are the College’s contractual obligation. The debt service budget includes interest costs of $16.2 million, with the $12.8 million principal repayment. The debt service for next year is increasing by $436K due to the increase in debt principal payments on the 2023 and 2025 Bonds offset by the reduction in the 2015 Bonds debt service that was refinanced in the 2025 Bonds. The College’s debt issuances are funding a number of projects, including the Worth Residence Hall and Lodges renovations; the geo-exchange energy plan, and the College’s Campus Renewal Program and annual renewal and replacement work.