Financial modeling drives academic program insights for private university 

Client background

A small, private university located in the Midwest encountered the need to reevaluate its financial sustainability in the face of shifting demographics and industry-wide enrollment pressures. 

The business challenge

As a regional institution with a growing campus footprint and evolving academic portfolio, the university sought to better understand the financial performance of its academic programs to ensure long-term viability and strategic alignment. 

With increased competition for a shrinking pool of prospective students, the university looked to make data-informed decisions to help guide future programmatic investments. Leadership wanted a clearer picture of which academic offerings were financially sustainable, and which might benefit from rethinking or repositioning. 

However, the university’s legacy accounting systems did not align with the way academic programs were managed, making profitability assessments complex. Additionally, the underlying financial data structures had changed in recent years, creating inconsistencies that limited the utility of traditional reporting tools. The university needed a flexible, transparent financial model that could adapt to changes and help decision-makers understand both direct and indirect costs across academic programs. 

Strategy and solution

Baker Tilly collaborated closely with university leadership to design a customized financial model that could provide a clear and actionable view of academic program performance. 

To ensure accuracy, our team began by working with university stakeholders to extract a comprehensive set of financial data—specifically, a detailed trial balance capturing every posted transaction from the full fiscal year. From there, we developed a robust, Excel-based modeling tool capable of dynamically calculating direct costs and allocating indirect expenses based on program-specific drivers. 

The solution required extensive data engineering and the creation of complex formulas to accommodate shifting data definitions and organizational needs. We collaborated with the university’s internal data and reporting experts to ensure the model reflected institutional nuances and aligned with operational realities. 

Ultimately, the university received a fully functional, scalable financial model that enabled leaders to assess the true profitability of their academic programs—quickly, accurately and at the click of a button. The analysis identified which programs were financially sustainable, providing a foundation for future program refinement and strategic investment. 

In addition to delivering the solution under budget, Baker Tilly provided guidance for future opportunities to expand the model’s scope, including benchmarking performance against peer institutions and exploring opportunities for programmatic growth or modality enhancements.