Financial Analysis Report

SUMMARY: As of late 2025, Spelman enjoys a robust financial position (A1, solid bond rating), characterized by growing assets, strong enrollment figures and a high volume of applicants. However, this report highlights the priorities of our college leadership: administrative costs (top managers) at Spelman are exceedingly high and continue to rise, while investment in instruction amounts to barely half that figure, and working conditions are becoming increasingly precarious for faculty. When compared against 30 peer institutions, Spelman ranks at the very top in administrative expenditures and at the very bottom in spending allocated to instruction. If budget cuts (or any type of “restructuring/optimization”) must be implemented, they should—and indeed must—come solely and exclusively from the administrative sector, rather than from the fundamental academic mission, which, on the contrary, ought to be strengthened.

Some conclusions of Dr. Howard Bunsis report:

1) As of the end of 2025, Spelman is in solid financial condition (assets are growing, and there's no debt) Spelman has a solid bond rating (A1), and this has not changed, and most importantly, the bond rating was just affirmed on March 5, 2026.

2) Applications are high in number from 2022.

3) The overwhelming evidence suggests that administrative costs are very high and increasing at Spelman; Since 2019, admin costs have increased more than twice as fast as Instruction (106.2% vs. 44.2%). Additionally, Spelman follows a national trend regarding  the precariousness of instruction:

Faculty  (2019-2025):                                         
Non-Tenure Track: 30%                                                 
Part-Time: 20%                                                            
Tenure/Tenure-Track: 8%

4) Between 2019 and 2025 enrollment has grown to a peak of 24.9% while instruction (all full-time faculty) has only grown 14.7%.

5) Spelman spends less on instruction and more on administration than most peer institutions.

Peer-institution comparison (2024 IPEDS spending distribution, list of 30 colleges, chosen by Spelman administrators):

Spelman was: 

• 6th out of 30 in terms of administration's expenditures (managers)

• 21st out of 30 in terms of instruction expenditures