Monash University shakes off Covid and posts $416m surplus in 2021
In the second year of the pandemic Monash University booked a record $416 million surplus, according to its 2021 annual report.
In the second year of a pandemic which caused universities to cut staff and plead for more funding, Monash University booked a record $416m surplus according to its 2021 annual report tabled in the Victorian parliament.
The results show that Monash has shaken off the financial stresses of Covid-19, which wiped over $100m from its international student fee revenue last year.
The university more than made up the loss of students with staff cuts and a wage freeze that reduced employee-related costs by nearly $70m. It also benefited from a windfall $150m in federal government assistance – most of it Monash’s share of a one-off $1bn boost to university research funding in 2021 – and a massive $170m rise in investment income.
The $416m surplus in 2021 followed a very healthy $279m surplus in 2020, the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Monash vice-chancellor Margaret Gardner told staff in a message the result had been ”achieved through the sacrifice, dedication and tenacity of all of you”.
She signalled that revenue was expected to fall in 2022 and 2023 but said this year’s results meant the university would “not have to make further cuts to teaching and research” and promised no further staff redundancies.
However, the staff union at Monash said that, while the university was recording massive surpluses, staff were burning out. National Tertiary Education Union branch president Ben Eltham said a staff survey showed that members believed they were overworked and endured a toxic work culture. He said that, of 700 responses to the survey, 23 per cent said they were actively looking to leave the university.
The level of the university’s surplus was “frankly obscene”, Dr Eltham added.
“Monash made 267 staff redundant in late 2020. At the time they told us there was a deficit. Since then they’ve announced nearly $700m in operating surpluses,” he said.
In 2022, Monash is likely to see a significant fall in investment income compared to 2021, and international student fee revenue is expected to fall further because of the “pipeline effect” of student enrolments. With international students doing two- and three- year courses, a fall in enrolments in one year carries over to future years.
Other Victorian university annual reports tabled on Tuesday show that nearly all improved their financial position in 2021 compared to the previous year.
RMIT University posted a surplus of $123m in 2021, improving on a deficit of $50m in 2020.
Swinburne University also achieved a major shift, with a $40m surplus in 2021 compared to a $55m deficit the prior year.
Deakin University posted a surplus of $80m in 2021, Federation University recorded a $33m surplus, and Victoria University a $1m surplus. The only Victorian university in deficit in 2021 was La Trobe, which announced that it was $19m in the red for the year.
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