The Budget Steering Committee has developed a budget for FY 2005-06 that allocates resources to our highest institutional priorities:

1. An outstanding educational experience for our students, supported by a fiscally sound balance of endowment revenue, comprehensive fee income, gifts, and grants.
2. Generous scholarship and grant support that ensures a Grinnell education is affordable to students and their families and that maintains our commitment to need-blind admissions and meeting the full demonstrated need of all domestic students.
3. Competitive faculty and staff salaries.

The Budget also funds certain important decisions set out in the nearly-final strategic plan. Even though the plan is not effective yet, we are implementing these initiatives because we believe that they should be adopted in any event. We also believe that by funding them in the FY 2006 Budget, we will be well positioned for the implementation of the full plan, should the plan come into effect. For instance, next year's budget includes a more realistic accounting of students' personal expenses.

Pressure on the budget over the course of the next few years will continue to increase assuming we implement major elements of the strategic plan. Subsequent budgets will need to cover the significant annual operating costs (utilities, custodial, etc.) of the new Joe Rosenfield '25 Center and the expansion of the Noyce Science Center. However, the strategic plan also contemplates growth in revenues and cost savings within current programs, both of which are intended to offset strategic expenditure growth.

It is a challenge to balance a budget and direct resources strategically when we are driven by three relatively expensive priorities. However, we think that we have been successful in preparing for the possible implementation of the strategic plan over the next five years. Within this context, we will continue to focus on the College's financial objectives such as achieving a more fiscally sound revenue distribution and greater expenditure control.

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The FY 2006 Budget as we report it is attached to this document as an Appendix.

* Answers to questions about the budgets of the past three years can be found on-line at:
http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/institutionalplanning