Budget flexibility, federal funding are main financial challenges at U., Priorities Committee reports
Lorenzo QuiogueTwo of the biggest financial challenges facing the University are reduced budget flexibility and diminished federal funding for research, provost David Lee GS’99 said in a Council of the Princeton University Committee meeting on Monday afternoon.Lee, who chairs the Priorities Committee, presented the committee’s annual report, which included an operating budget of $1.59 billion, at the meeting.During the meeting, Lee explained that the University used a significant portion of its reserve funds during the recovery from the 2008 economic crisis, and that this move reduced the University’s ability to reallocate resources in the event of a crisis.Due to changes in the economic outlook, the University is now in a “new normal” where it can no longer rely on market growth to sustain the budget equilibrium, Lee explained.“We’re a little bit closer to having to think about trade-offs,” he added.Lee explained that congressional gridlock and the looming need to reauthorize the debt ceiling limit in February could increase economic instability and result in further cuts to federal agencies’ budgets.
