The University of Denver’s financial operations support our academic, research, and community engagement enterprises, allowing us to offer an excellent education to students and achieve our mission.
By providing the information on this site and page, we strive to offer a clear and transparent picture of DU’s financial operations. We also hope these resources help the DU community to understand how tuition and donor dollars are used responsibly, and we invite further questions through the contacts listed below.
University Budget Advisory Committee
During a period of academic transformation, and to promote transparency and collaboration, the University of Denver has established the University Budget Advisory Committee (UBAC). The committee assists the Offices of the Chancellor and Provost, as well as the Chancellor’s Cabinet.
The UBAC is comprised of faculty, staff, deans, and students, who represent key stakeholders and convey holistic perspectives on financial matters. The UBAC is provided with confidential information and data and may be asked to share insights with University leadership.
If you have questions about the UBAC, please contact Clint Emmerich, associate vice chancellor of financial planning and analysis.
Financial Reports & Forms
Budget Transmittals (DU login required to view)
DU Policies & Financial Transparency
DU’s approved policy library provides guidance and additional information on our commitment to transparency and accountability. Below is a list of highlighted policies that pertain to financial topics. The library may contain additional documents with financial guidance.
Key Concepts
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Budget responsibility, models, and process at DU
The University of Denver’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is responsible for developing the all-fund-type operating budget for presentation to the Chancellor, who ultimately presents to the Board of Trustees for approval. The CFO works very closely with the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor, who oversees the development of the operating budget for academic and academic support divisions, along with several auxiliary divisions that report to the Provost.
Each financial division on campus builds a detailed operating budget and three forecasts throughout the year using DU’s budgeting platform. Through a cooperative process, operating margin targets are established for each financial division during the budgeting timeline. The Financial Planning & Analysis team summarizes, synthesizes, and analyzes the projections to provide university-level, multi-year, estimates.
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DU’s Endowment
DU’s endowment is a fund in which the principal amount (made up of donations, other contributions, and appreciation) is invested, and a portion of the total investment return in a year is used to support scholarships, operations, or specific programs. The goal of an endowment is to provide a stable, long-term source of funding that preserves “purchase power” over time. Investments returns less annual withdrawals for spending should be equal to or greater than the consumer price index (CPI) on average over time. As is common in higher education, most of DU’s endowment is restricted funds and can only be used for those projects and programs designated by the original donor(s). The vast majority of donor-restricted designations are student scholarships.
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Donor-directed funds
Donor-directed funds refer to funds that are given to DU by a donor, with specific instructions on how the funds are to be used. The donor specifies the purpose or projects they wish to support. These funds are typically managed by DU but must be used according to the donor’s directions, in line with applicable laws and DU’s mission. The funds can either be donor-advised or completely restricted to one program or project.
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Tuition-dependency
The DU budget is primarily funded by tuition from both undergraduate and graduate students. Most years, the amount of operating expense funded with current-year tuition is more than 70%, with the remainder of income coming from donors, endowment distribution, and auxiliary activities (such as room and board, event tickets, rental fees, technology transfer, and other areas).
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"Sticker Price” and “Net Price”
DU’s undiscounted undergraduate cost of tuition increased from $53,775 in 2020-2021 to $60,084 for the 2024-2025 academic year. Though higher education cost increases have generally outpaced inflation rates over the past 40 years, DU’s five-year increase of 11.7% is less than US inflation, which saw an increase of 15.8% during the same period.
For the last several years, 100% of undergraduate students received some form of scholarship. Scholarships take the form of “funded” (paid for by gifts or endowment distribution) or “unfunded” (which are discounts from the gross price of tuition). The planned discount rate for fiscal year 2025 was 46%, making the average net tuition cost $32,445.
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Public vs. private institutions
Though named for our city, the University of Denver is a private institution, and does not receive state or local funding from Colorado jurisdictions for operations (unlike, for example, public institutions such as University of Colorado Boulder or the Colorado School of Mines). Though Colorado does not fund public universities at particularly high rates compared to other states, it does provide approximately $1.4 billion to public institutions throughout the state (as of 2023). The University of Denver does not receive any of this state funding.
strong benefit of private institutions is a relatively high level of freedom to pursue their missions and build meaningful, targeted student experiences that many public institutions cannot pursue due to political and funding entanglements.
Source: State Higher Education Executive Officers’ State Higher Education Finance Report
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Research 1 classification
In December 2021, DU was designated as a Doctoral—Very High Research Activity University (often called “R1”) by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. This designation does not provide additional funding or benefits for DU and is not considered a ranking. It simply denotes that DU has met a set of criteria—primarily measuring number of doctoral graduates and research grant expenditures, which surpassed $43M in 2021.
