SALT LAKE CITY — Westminster University leaders claim students and families shouldn't see a new report that gave the school a poor grade as a sign that it's in trouble.
The "D" grade handed down in the Forbes report that measures the financial health of U.S. private colleges is the kind that gets attention, but the Sugar House school said the report doesn’t tell the whole story.
"Some of the data that were used to evaluate frankly don't show the full picture of Westminster's current financial state," said Westminster's Chief Communications Officer, Sheila Yorkin.
School leaders claim the report, which said Westminster is "in dire straits financially," is missing recent gains, like growing enrollment, donor support, and corporate partnerships. All signs, they said, that the university is moving in the right direction.
"Westminster is anticipating, in this fiscal year, a surplus because of those gains that we've made since the date that the article pulled," added Yorkin.
In this year's rankings, Forbes placed greater emphasis on liquidity, essentially a school's financial cushion. The "D" is the lowest mark assigned in the rankings, and one that the media outlet equates to a school being "on life support."
Yorkin believes the way the rankings are calculated leaves out important context.
"Westminster has great donor support, corporate and federal donations, as well as increasing enrollment over the last several years, that are post the date that Forbes pulled to do this article," she said.
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Forbes has yet to respond after FOX 13 News reached out for a better understanding of how it calculated the Westminster grade.
The school did acknowledge that enrollment is lower than university leaders would like, but it has increased over the last two years. Officials also pointed to its investment-grade rating from S&P Global.
"Our financial situation is strong, and our balance sheet is strong, and our accreditors and our auditors are giving us good marks," said Yorkin.
Westminster shared that the school remains financially viable and that no scholarships or student programs are impacted.
