University Operated at Deficit in 'Abnormal' '45-46, Claflin Reports

Despite a total income of slightly less than $20,000,000 in the fiscal year ending last June 30, the University suffered a substantial deficit during that period, according to the annual report of Treasurer William H. Claflin, Jr. '15, made public recently in the Harvard Alumni Bulletin.

Balancing expenses of $20,700,000 against receipts from all sources of only $19,900,000, the University operated at an $800,000 deficit for the year, the highest loss ever suffered in that time-period.

Responsibility for the deficit, according to Claflin, lay with the fact that 1945-46 was still not a "normal year," and that many "unusual expenditures were necessitated by the beginning of the post-war period."

The largest portion of Harvard's 1945-46 income came from tuition and other student sources; but even that category accounted for only 29.1 percent of the total income. Next highest segment of the income dollar 28.4 percent--was derived from dividends from the University endowment, while the other chief source of funds was gifts donated during the year for immediate use, amounting to 8.4 percent of the sum.

Government expenditures accounted for an unexpectedly large portion of both income and expenses in the University's accounting. $4,253,000--or 21.4 percent of the income figure--was spent on wartime and post-war research for the government.

In his report Claflin disclosed that war-time contracts fulfilled by the University had totalled $30,292,000, a figure which secrecy had kept under cover for some time.

Among the regular expenses, wages and salaries accounted for $12,600,600, or more than half of the total amount, with wages running slightly heavier than the salaries of Corporation appointees. Equipment and supplies took 27 percent of the expense dollar, while pension monies accounted for another 3 percent and scholarship funds for 2.

In concluding his statement, Claflin pointed out that the current fiscal year will undoubtedly prove as abnormal as 1945-46, with an equal chance of running a deficit. Expenses for such items as Counsellor for Veterans, Infirmary, and even Nursery School will be swollen in the ensuing months, he warned, remarking that the University despite its great resources, remains dependent on gifts every year to carry through its normal program and at the same time plan and expand for the future.