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Behind the Blue Door
Form 990 unlocks some (not all) Yale fiscal secrets
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Business New Haven
10/1/2001
By: BNH
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More than one wag has suggested that the reason Yale University is so secretive about its finances is that no one at Woodbridge Hall can count that high.
Nevertheless, Yale's most recent IRS Form 990 reveals some details that the university would probably never voluntarily divulge about its gargantuan operating budget.
Form 990 is a tax form filed by nonprofit institutions, and Yale's contains everything from the salaries of all university officers and other top wage-earners to line-item expenses - information never included in standard published Yale financial reports.
The document shows that seven Yale officers, including President Richard C. Levin, Provost Alison Richard and five vice presidents earned well in excess of $200,000 during 1999, the latest year for which information is available.
With input from Levin, the Yale Corporation sets salaries for officers of the university.
Levin, who earned $423,750 and received an additional $137,959 in benefits, surprisingly is not Yale's highest-paid employee. A number of others earn substantially more than Levin.
Chief Investment Officer David Swensen, who manages Yale's $10 billion endowment, earned $743,953 in 1999, making him Yale's highest-paid official. Yale administrators are quick to defend that figure by noting that Swensen would earn far more if he elected to work as an investment professional in the private sector.
Behind Swensen on Yale's highest-paid list are several clinical professors at Yale's medical school, including Gary Kopf, John Elefteriades, David Leffell and Michael Cleman. All earned in excess of $500,000 in 1999.
According to the Yale Daily News, “The range of increases is probably wider today than it was five years ago,” said provost Richard, who made $305,500 in 1999, regarding salary trends of faculty and administrators at Yale. “Accomplishments and productivity are being recognized more strongly and outstanding performances are being more heavily recognized with higher salary increases.”
Yale spent nearly $600 million on salaries in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2000. It spent an additional $110 million on benefits.
A comparison with previous Form 990s shows that salaries for Yale's top officers have been increasing at a high rate, with raises between five and ten percent in each of recent years. Those increases outpace wage increases among most other university employees, including union members, over the same period.
The Form 990 also provides a glimpse of some of Yale's specific expenditures. In fiscal year 2000, the university spent just under $4 million on business meals and entertainment, $18.6 million on travel, and $4.9 million on telephone bills. Another $9.4 million was spent on insurance, while mailing costs totaled $6.8 million.
Overall, Yale's operating budget was $1.2 billion for the 2000 fiscal year. The budget for the current fiscal year tops $1.4 billion.
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