The University of Akron
What led to this audit?
The Auditor of State’s office is required to conduct a select number of performance audits of institutions of higher education and state agencies every two years. The University of Akron was chosen for a performance audit due to its declining financial condition and future fund deficit projections and concerning enrollment trends. This determination was based, in part, on information provided to the Ohio Department of Higher Education by the University regarding its overall financial health.
What did we find?
We found that the University of Akron has had significant declines in enrollment over the past decade. While the University has taken steps to reduce faculty and course offerings due to lower enrollment, it continues to own and maintain excessive building space. In addition, the University’s athletic department experienced more significant operational deficits than other peer institutions in recent years. Further, the University has been deficit spending to maintain operations and has required transfers from reserve funds in the past several years. This deficit spending, if left unchecked, may result in the University exhausting existing reserve funds in the near future.
The performance audit resulted in 12 recommendations that can assist University officials with making difficult decisions regarding operations to help improve the overall financial health of the institution and reduce projected deficit spending in the future with the goal of ensuring fiscal sustainability for the University.