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Dear �Ա���Ƶ Faculty and Staff Colleagues,

I write today to welcome you to the fall semester at �Ա���Ƶ and provide, as has become an annual practice, an update on the University’s operations and recent activities as the new academic and fiscal year begins.

I want to start by noting that summer, while hopefully a time of rest and renewal for all of us, is hardly a time “off” at �Ա���Ƶ. I have never liked “welcome back” letters that imply that the campus and its people somehow went inactive for a few months, just waking up as a new semester starts. This summer, a very large number of our faculty travelled the world in pursuit of research projects. On campus, 175 students participated in summer research. On the campus and away from Hamilton, new courses were developed, new programs and initiatives created, and individual projects of both faculty and staff pursued. And, as is clearly apparent, a number of campus building and landscape projects were started or completed. �Ա���Ƶ, in short, has not been dormant since Commencement.

At the risk of sounding hubristic, I do think we enter this new academic year from a position of strength. We are on a firm financial footing, we remain an institution highly regarded by many, and we continue to pursue our mission of teaching, learning, and research in community at a very high level.

It must be noted, though, that we are operating in one of the most complex times in the history of American higher education, with challenges to our mission coming from many corners. This update — focused on our operations and campus-based activities — cannot adequately address all the issues and challenges facing not just �Ա���Ƶ, but all colleges and universities in the United States today. I do hope, however, that we will have opportunities this year to discuss the state of American higher education and �Ա���Ƶ’s role in this changing landscape. 

The Federal Landscape

In response to the extraordinary number of changes and messages that touch upon �Ա���Ƶ’s work and operations coming from the various parts of the federal administration, I formed a Federal Policy Working Group (FPWG) to consider and offer recommendations regarding changing federal policies and practices. This group will continue to meet throughout the fall.

This group will continue to be guided by three core principles:

• ensuring that �Ա���Ƶ alone determines who joins and remains in our community;
• protecting the sanctity of the classroom, free inquiry, and discovery; and
• having the University alone determine how we care for members of the �Ա���Ƶ community.

FPWG members include Vice President and Chief of Staff Hazel Jack, Dean of Academic and Curricular Affairs Doug Johnson, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Renee Madison, Mark Sandford as a representative of the Faculty Affairs Committee, Vice President for Communications Dan DeVries, and Vice President for Administration Christopher Wells. They are advised by outside legal counsel. I will update the campus as to the recommendations of this group and any significant changes to be made in response to changing federal policies.

In July, President Trump signed a significant budget bill — a Congressional “reconciliation bill” — that included a number of changes to federal financial aid policies. The policy that most impacts �Ա���Ƶ is the change in the amount any family can borrow through what are known as Parent PLUS loans. Beginning with the 2026–27 academic year, these loans will be capped at $20,000 annually per student for new borrowers. In the last academic year, 134 �Ա���Ƶ students had Parent PLUS loans borrowed on their behalf. Loan amounts for these students ranged from $1,000 to $94,000. The majority of families holding such loans borrowed in excess of what is now the $20,000 cap. The Office of Financial Aid is gathering more data to get an idea of who is typically taking PLUS loans and will determine how best to respond to this significant shift in federal financial aid policies.

While a number of institutions saw new endowment taxes applied to them, �Ա���Ƶ remains exempt from these new taxes. These new endowment taxes require annual payments to the federal government at annual rates ranging from 1.5% to 8%. We will continue to closely monitor any new changes to endowment policies.

Federal research funding at �Ա���Ƶ has largely not been impacted by the current administration’s new policies. Since February 2025, �Ա���Ƶ faculty have submitted proposals requesting $1.7 million in federal funding for research, and we have received approximately $500,000 in new federal research funding so far this calendar year. We will continue to monitor how federal policies impact funding. 

�Ա���Ƶ’s Fiscal Health

While economic conditions remain challenging for all colleges and universities, I am very pleased to report that �Ա���Ƶ ended the year 2024–25 academic year with a modest surplus, which we allocated to both general endowment and financial aid endowment.

Inflation remains a significant concern for �Ա���Ƶ, however, but we have planned for a balanced budget for the current fiscal year, and I am pleased to announce that we continue to plan for the hiring of new faculty and staff.

The University’s endowment is currently valued at $1.39 billion, which is an all-time high for �Ա���Ƶ. I must note, with great appreciation, the remarkable support of our alumni and friends who have continued to increase this financial endowment. The endowment supports an increasing amount of the university's operations, which allows us to be assured of continued strength and allows for the possibility of new endeavors.

The �Ա���Ƶ Class of 2029 

�Ա���Ƶ begins this year with 816 members of the Class of 2029 and 14 transfer students. They come from 36 countries, 42 states, and the District of Columbia.

The University received in excess of 17,000 applications in the 2024–25 academic year — including 1,342 early decision applications — and accepted 3,017. Enrolling students come to us with an average GPA of 3.86. In the Class of 2029, 7% of our students are international and 26% self-identify as domestic students of color. This compares to 8% international and 26% identifying as domestic students of color in the Class of 2028. We welcomed 20 Questbridge students, up from 15 students in last year’s entering class, and 32 OUS scholars. The proportion of students identifying themselves as first-generation students is 12%, an increase from last year’s 11%.

Importantly, the percentage of students on aid increased from 41% for the Class of 2028 to 44% for the Class of 2029, in line with the institutional priority to be able to support more students who wish to attend �Ա���Ƶ.

Enrollment Management

The admission cycle just completed proved to be a complex one, with a large number of peer and aspirant institutions engaging in admission activities well into the summer — a number of elite universities, for example, were admitting students off their wait lists well into the summer, affecting all institutions that were managing enrollment. I strongly suspect that the turbulence we have seen in recent admission cycles will not only continue, but increase.

�Ա���Ƶ did very well in this admission cycle, and we are extremely pleased with the quality of the entering class. But I want us to be increasingly more intentional in our cross-university efforts to attract, enroll, and retain excellent students. To that end, I have asked Tara Bubble, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, to lead a small group of Cabinet-level administrators to consider how we can continue to do well in future admission cycles and how we can be more intentional in those efforts to retain our students. I will report to faculty and staff on these efforts as they develop over the year.

Fundraising 

As was recently reported, the 2024–25 fiscal year closed with $143 million in new gifts and commitments to the Campaign for the Third Century. The campaign total now stands at $745 million, and our fundraising pace is ahead of what we originally expected when we launched the campaign. The �Ա���Ƶ Fund saw $10.2 million for programs across campus, and the �Ա���Ƶ Athletic Fund raised $2.9 million for our Division I varsity teams. Both amounts represent new record numbers.

The recent alumni reunion 2025 brought the announcement of major commitments totaling more than $115 million for West Campus construction and renovation projects. These commitments include a $60 million gift from Peter Kellner ’65 — the largest single gift in �Ա���Ƶ’s history; a $25 million gift from Jean-Pierre L. Conte ’85; and gifts of $10 million from Becky Hurley ’81 and Christopher Hurley ’81; Robert Fox ’59; and Stephen Sprague ’72.

The campaign has also now produced 16 new endowed faculty chairs to date. We will continue to pursue new gifts to the endowment to increase the number of endowed chairs. New endowed chairs, while awarded to individual faculty members, profoundly strengthen our academic program as they provide significant and constant funds for our teaching and research.

Capital Projects

I hope you were able to walk Peter’s Glen and enjoy some ice cream last week, and perhaps you took a tour of 66 Broad Street when it opened its doors in July. These are just the latest Third-Century priorities that have been launched in the relatively short time �Ա���Ƶ has pursued its long-term plan.

I am eternally grateful for the support provided by Peter Kellner, who fully funded the work of the new glen landscape. In addition to the beauty of this project, Peter’s Glen radically improves the management of water through much of the campus, with enhancements to our environment that will serve �Ա���Ƶ for decades to come.

Meanwhile, preparations are underway for the construction of the Carey Center on the site currently occupied by Buildings and Grounds. This facility will provide new homes and performance spaces for men’s and women’s basketball and our volleyball program, locker room and program facilities for football, and new strength and training facilities. The Carey Center will also be available for large University events, such as arrival day events, major speaker programs, and other important moments in the University calendar.

On what we are now calling the West Campus, a new structure will rise at 70 Broad Street, replacing the original house with a new facility that will be fully consistent with the look and feel of the West Campus neighborhood. Planning for significant improvements to this whole neighborhood — with new residential, social, and academic spaces being considered — continues and has been made possible by the significant new gifts to �Ա���Ƶ outlined above. 

In Closing

�Ա���Ƶ’s 206th academic year has begun. Never in that long history has our mission been of greater importance for our country, our world, and our students. And while this letter could not fully address all that is happening at �Ա���Ƶ and all the challenges and opportunities we face, I do hope it gives readers a sense of the overall management and health of the institution.

I hope you feel the full excitement of being here at this time — as you engage with new classes, first games, tryouts, recruitment drives, meetings, and many new ambitious plans. Good luck to all as we begin this new academic and fiscal year.

Most sincerely,

Brian W. Casey
President