Fairmont State University has again finished its fiscal year 2019 with a strong financial position. This is a continuance of last year’s focus on cost saving/containment and strategic initiatives implemented by administration in January 2018.

“The efforts of the entire campus community to be conscious of costs and implement changes to improve efficiency proved to yet again be successful in helping us end the year with an increase in net position of $5.3 million, the largest increase recorded in over 10 years,” Chief Financial Officer Christa Kwiatkowski indicated. “To have two years of positive net position changes is quite a feat in today’s higher education environment.”

Although the audit was issued on October 15, 2019 by Suttle and Stalnaker, the institution’s independent auditing firm, official audit results will not be presented until the December Board of Governors meeting.

At that time, the Board will also review the 2019 Composite Financial Indicator (CFI) ratios, which are not final at this time. The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), the institution’s accrediting body, reviews financial and non-financial data for specific risk indicators on an annual basis to calculate the CFI ratios. 2018 was the first time in four years that Fairmont State University’s CFI Score was “above the zone” at 2.0, which indicates strong financial stability.

“Our continued, and growing, financial strength is impressive, but I am most grateful for the fact this was a campus-wide effort,” President Dr. Mirta M. Martin said. “The entire Falcon community understood the importance of long-term financial health, and we worked together to find strategic initiatives that not only contained costs, but did so in a way that ensured we maintained our high standard of academics and service to students and other constituents.”