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Financial Results

Yale finished the year ended June 30, 2022, with a surplus from operations on both a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and a Management View basis – the way Yale looks at financial information for internal discussion and decision-making purposes (see page 6 for additional information). The university generated a surplus from operations of $270 million on a GAAP basis and $167 million on a Management View basis. The university finished the year in a strong financial position, from both an operations and balance sheet perspective, with $44.7 billion in net assets.

Revenues and Expenses

Operating revenues increased by 5.0% to $4.8 billion for the year. Yale’s largest source of income, spending from the endowment, increased by 3.7% over the prior year to $1,568 million. The second largest source of income, medical services, increased by 6.2% over the prior year to $1,327 million – a sustained rebound from a decline in the early months of the pandemic. The third largest source of income, grants and contracts, increased by 9.7% over the prior year to $962 million. Net tuition, room and board increased by 55.9% over the prior year to $462 million since the vast majority of students who opted to defer admission or take leaves of absence during the pandemic have now matriculated or rejoined the campus community. Operating expenses grew by 8.1%. Salaries, wages, and benefits increased by 6% after lifting the hiring and salary freezes instituted during the pandemic and providing enhanced employee benefits during the pandemic. Other operating expenditures increased by 16.3%, impacted by several factors, including pandemic-related expenses such as testing and personal protective equipment, the resumption of travel, and the resurgence of on-campus and other activities. The significant rise of inflation this year applied pressure to costs of various operations at the university, including notably increased food and energy prices.

Yale Endowment

The investment return for the Yale Endowment was 0.8% for the year. This result highlights the volatility of investment returns from one year to the next, and the consequent importance of the Endowment Spending Policy. The policy aims to maximize a stable flow of income to the budget while preserving the value of the endowment in real terms to support future generations of students and scholars. The university aims to spend 5.25% of the endowment’s value each year, which means the university needs an endowment return of 8.25% to replenish this outlay (5.25% in spending plus long-term inflation of 3%) to sustain this level of spending for future generations. The 2021-22 investment return was lower than that long-term sustainable return, which might reasonably lead someone to conclude the budget for endowment income needs to be reduced for the next year. In fact, the next budget year will see a healthy increase in spending on teaching and research from the endowment because of the smoothing component of the Endowment Spending Policy, explained in Footnote 1d of the financial statements. The smoothing component moderates the impact of recent returns (high and low), which delivers on the goal of a stable flow of income to the budget, a vital element for the successful operation of the university.

Fundraising and the For Humanity Campaign

October 2, 2021 marked the launch of the public phase of the For Humanity fundraising campaign to ensure faculty and students at Yale have the support they need to tackle the most critical challenges facing humankind. Guided by Yale’s mission to improve the world now and for future generations, and with a goal of raising $7 billion by June 2026, this campaign is the most ambitious fundraising effort in Yale’s history. The remarkable generosity of Yale’s alumni and friends – including individuals, corporations, and foundations – provides essential funding for student financial aid, investments in research, and every aspect of the university’s operations, and this year finished with aggregate contributions of $614 million.

Capital Spending Highlights

Capital spending on facilities for this year totaled $378 million. Several major projects underway include the comprehensive renovations to the Peabody Museum – which will feature a K-12 education center, a bright central gallery to host year-round events, and a new outdoor courtyard for community gatherings – and Kline Tower – which will feature open-plan three-story departmental clusters as the new home for the departments of Astronomy, Mathematics, and Statistics and Data Science, as well as the new Kline Tower Institute (KTI) for the Foundations of Data Science. A new building will house the Tobin Center for Economic Policy – which will reduce the time from research to impact by enabling more policy-relevant research. In addition, with the transformation of 100 College Street, it will soon house the departments of Neuroscience and Psychology together with the new Wu Tsai Institute, whose goal is to understand human cognition.

Supporting the Yale Community

While the COVID-19 pandemic continued to have an impact on the university’s financial results during the 2021-22 financial year, it was significantly less pronounced than the previous two years. Despite three fiscal years which have seen considerable impact on revenues and costs, Yale remains in a strong financial position, and that will enable the university to continue to push forward with exciting investments to further strengthen and advance our mission. We are grateful for the extraordinary faculty, students, staff, alumni, and friends of the Yale community and their efforts each day “to improve the world through outstanding research and scholarship, education, preservation, and practice."

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