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The financial outlook for Columbia is a source of encouragement and pride to the entire University community. The market value of the endowment as of June 30, 1998, stood at $3.42 billion, up more than 75 percent in just four years. We have reduced the rate of endowment spending, contained central administrative spending, incorporated prudent levels of contingencies into our budgets, and achieved record fundraising totals year after year.
Citing these and other accomplishments, Standard and Poor's Corporation announced last spring that it had upgraded Columbia's credit rating from AA+ to AAA, making it one of just eight universities in the country to achieve this level. Moody's Investors Service likewise assigned the University its premium rating.
Our success in achieving renewed financial strength reflects the concentrated effort and commitment of the entire Columbia community. The first budget that I presented to the Trustees, in June of 1994, built on the hard work of retrenchment begun under President Emeritus Michael I. Sovern and returned the institution to a state of fiscal equilibrium. The budget reductions of the mid-1990s paved the way for a steadily improving financial performance that has since allowed us to make carefully chosen investments in areas of core strength.
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