Operating Revenue and Expenses from 2024-25 Financial Statements
How Funding Flows Through the University
Each year we project our revenues and expenses in the university's Operating Budget. However the actual amounts will differ from what is planned because enrollments are variable and not all expenses can be predicted in advance. The actual revenues and expenses for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 (FY 2025) are provided below along with the accounting adjustments reported on the institution's financial statement.
FY 2024-25 Revenues
Operating revenues are funds that are received by the institution and can be used to support the costs of operations.
Tuition and Fees Revenues
Tuition and Fee revenues represent a substantial funding source for the university; however, not all of the revenue collected can be used for operations.
Tuition + Fees $152.69M
The total for tuition and revenue includes the amounts that do not contribute to our operating budget. For example, course and mandatory fees are collected with tuition but restricted for other purposes (earmarked) and are allocated to self-sustaining and auxiliary funds.
Also included is the state-mandated building fee and a portion of the operating fee that is used to to support financial aid. These amounts and student fees can only be used for specific purposes and not general operations.
Net Operating Tuition $97.82M
This amount reflects the net tuition revenue collected that can be used to support university operations and excludes restricted fees.
Net Operating Tuition is one of the four funding sources used to support operations (below).
Appropriate Earmarks $54.88M
This category includes fee revenue collected with tuition that is restricted for specific uses (earmarks), including:
All Operating Revenue Sources
Net Operating Tuition $97.82M
Net Operating Tuition flows into the local operating budget and represents the portion of tuition available to support general operations.
State Appropriations $123.85M
State appropriations reflect WWU's legal authority to spend a specific amount of state money. Some state appropriations are intended to maintain our operations while others are for specific uses only.
Admin. Services Assessment Fee $5.48M
The Administrative Services Assessment (ASA) fee is charged to self-supporting departments to partially recapture overhead costs for providing general administrative support that is funded by state operating revenue.
Investment Income & Other $4.3M
This revenue category is comprised of investment income, differential tuition revenue for a few specific graduate programs, and internal services revenue associated with supplies and services provided by self-supporting areas to the campus community.
Total Local Operating Revenue $231.45M
FY 2024-25 Expenses
Operating expenses represent the costs associated with delivering instruction, maintaining facilities, and state supported business functions.
Operating Expenses
Expenses are typically grouped by those that support personnel (salaries and benefits) and non-labor costs (goods and services).
Salaries + Benefits $204.75M
Includes all expenses paid to employees regardless of job type or full-time status, and all benefits such as retirement or healthcare costs.
Goods + Services $28.46M
Includes all general goods and services expenditures, including contracted services (e.g., legal, custodial, repairs, printing), travel-related activities, and non-capitalized equipment.
Total Local Operating Expenses $233.21M
The total annual operating expenses (sum of Salary + Benefits and Goods & Services).
Accounting Adjustments
Accounting adjustments are required for Western's financial statements to ensure that revenues and expenditures are correctly categorized, reported in the correct fiscal year, and that future expenditures owed by the university (e.g., retirement benefits) are disclosed. The impact of these adjustments is that the operating expense totals in our financial system will always be different from what is reported in the financial statement.
Net Liability Adjustments -$11.54M
This category reflect Western's promise to pay employee post-retirement benefits, such as pension and medical insurance and other liabilities. These adjustments reflect estimated changes to the future payments based on accounting standards that the university must follow for external reporting. The impact of contra-expenses is that if the amount is positive it reduces the amount of reported expenditures.
Key Take-Away
In FY 2025, Western continued to reduce the gap between total operating revenues and total expenditures compared to prior years. Total operating revenues were $231.5M and total operating expenses $233.2M leaving a -$1.7M gap which was covered by institutional reserves and year-end transfers.