Cabrini University students can now workout, take yoga classes and stay active in the $12 million, newly renovated Dixon Center without having to worry about their tuition being increased. According to Eric Olson, vice president for finance at Cabrini University, “All of the work in funding, this had one goal of not affecting students in any way. There is in no way any kind of charge going to students and their tuition to pay for the addition.”
“Dr. Taylor has been pretty clear in that he does not want the tuition to increase significantly,” Rob Dallas, coordinator of facilities and operations, said. “He has been vocal about trying to keep it where it is or close to where it is. Students come here and they can rest assured that that number is not going to go through the roof.”
According to the University’s website, the current tuition for a full-time student is $29,655 per year.
The addition includes the latest gym equipment with screens to watch television, Netflix, and more, offices for all coaches, yoga and dance studio, cafe and seating area, training room with whirlpool and ice baths, strength training area for athletes and locker rooms for all sports teams.
In regards to funding the renovations, Olson said that no money was borrowed to pay for the addition so there are no loans that need to be paid back. The University used money that had been saved up for large changes just like this.
“It was mostly college money. We were able to use college savings that we had for these kinds of projects,” Dr. Jeffrey Gingerich, provost and vice president for academic affairs, said.
“It was really funded from a mix of donations as well as internal reserves,” Olson said. “We did not tap any of the endowment money; whether it is donor-driven or institutional-driven, we did not touch any endowment money to pay for this.”
An article published in the Philadelphia Inquirer from April of 2016 reported that the University is currently $32.24 million in debt. When asked if the renovations add to this debt, Olson replied, “We did not borrow and we were able to use reserves that we set aside routinely anyway to take care of future issues as they come up. So we were able to do it within that plus the fundraising.”
