University of Virginia Library

XXVIII. Finances

In 1824, not many months before the University received
its first students, Jefferson reduced to figures the
anticipated amount of the annual income and outlay of
the institution. The income to be relied upon was the
annuity of $15,000; the rents to accrue from the hotels,
$900.00, and from the dormitories, $1,708; payments on
various accounts by the students, $2,616,—a total sum
of $20,224. On the other hand, the expenses were expected
to reach the aggregate sum of $20,224 also.
They were to consist of $3,000 for current demands;
$12,000 for the salaries of the professors; $200.00 for
the remuneration of the military instructor; and $5,024
for the defrayment of miscellaneous costs,—such as appropriations
for the purchase of books, philosophical
apparatus, and the like.

The statement of the bursar for the session of 1826,—
the second in the University's history,—confirmed the
substantial correctness of Jefferson's estimates, for the
total income for that year turned out to be $25,–
155.30, and the total expenses $25,135.27. This,
however, did not include the sum of $3,430.50, which had
to be provided for the liquidation of one of the debentures
held by John M. Perry for the conveyance of the
University site; but it did take in $9,953.27 due for interest
on the library fund advanced by the General Assembly,
and also on the University bonds in the possession
of private individuals. Jefferson had calculated that
the current expenses would amount to $3,000. They actually
rose to $3,500.

As $25,000 was needed in 1826 to complete the buildings
and to create a permanent water supply, the Board
of Visitors in July, 1827, authorized the proctor to borrow

a large sum of Thomas Jefferson Randolph, as trustee
for his mother. The money actually obtained from
this source was $19,777. An attempt had been previously
made to procure the required fund from the Richmond
banks, but without success. The interest on this
loan was guaranteed by the pledge of the annuity. It
was issued in the form of eight certificates, dated January
1, 1828. By 1830, this debt had been increased
by borrowings from other individuals that amounted to
$4,000. Down to 1830, the following sums in different
forms had been received by the University: loans, $180,–
000; annuities, $163,854; appropriation by the General
Assembly for the purchase of the library and philosophical
and chemical apparatus, $50,000,—a total of $393,–
854. In 1832–3, the obligations of the institution
amounted to $28,628. They embraced $3,800, due for
repairs and improvements; $2,339.05, indebtedness to
James Oldham on contract; $719.00, unpaid salaries;
a bond of $2,000, held by Minor's executor, and a bond
of $19,777 belonging to the Randolph estate. The actual
receipts for this year were $20,500,—a decline in
volume; the actual expenses, $15,500,—which also was
a decided reduction. In July, 1833, the bursar's report
showed a favorable balance of $8,155.66,—which was
the means of preventing an important deficit for the session
of 1833–34, since the receipts for that session were
only $21,394.94, while the expenses were $23,480.90.
How small was the command of surplus funds which
the University had at this time is brought out by the fact
that the debt to Oldham,—the result of his successful
suit as one of the original contractors,—still remained
unliquidated.

In 1835, the institution was called upon to pay the sum
of $1,366.20 in the form of interest on loans from private

individuals. Its financial condition, however, was not unsatisfactory,
for, during this year, the income was $20,521,
and the expenditures only $16,866.20. A list of
these expenditures discloses the following items: Salaries
of professors, $10,500; salaries of officers, $1,700;
appropriation for library, $500.00; for different schools,
$250.00; hire of laborers, $60.00; printing, postage, and
the like, $600.00; and repairs, $1,350. The drafts upon
the University's income varied but little during the next
ten years; thus, they did not exceed $17,527.48 for the
fiscal term ending June 1, 1845, and $15,000.50 for the
like term ending June 1, 1847. The receipts for the latter
year were $20,176, figures that disclose no gain whatever
in the income over the return for 1835, twelve years
before. During the term ending May 31, 1848, the receipts
were $20,716.56, and the expenses $18,850.88,
while for the following fiscal year, the receipts were $22,935.64,
and the expenses, $16,515.55. We thus perceive
that, twenty-four years after the University was opened
to students, its income exceeded by barely two thousand
dollars the amount which Jefferson had calculated as reasonable
to expect for the first year. The Randolph loan
had, by this time, been reduced to $9,000.

In order to build the annex to the Rotunda, the Board
obtained from the Legislature the authority to negotiate
a loan of $25,000.The enabling act was passed February
17, 1852.The bonds issued—which were signed
by the rector, and countersigned by the bursar,—were
payable twenty-five years after date; they were limited
to $5,000 each; and bore interest at the rate of six per
cent., secured by the pledge of such a proportion of the
annuity as would be needed to meet it. As a corporation,
the University was not empowered to borrow large sums
without first receiving the permission of the General Assembly;

and this was always asked as well as the legislative
consent to the use of the annual payment by the State
as a guarantee for the interest. It was debatable
whether there was not a limit to the University's right to
borrow even with legislative approval, and for this reason
it was always wise to allow the General Assembly to pass
upon the amount of every loan to be floated.

The increase in the number of students after 1851 was
reflected in the expansion in the volume of receipts: including
the surplus fees, which had previously gone to
the professors, the income of the University for the fiscal
year ending June 28, 1851, was as much as $33,078, while
the disbursements were only $23,096.91, leaving a balance
of $9,981.18, the largest in the history of the institution.
This afforded substantial assistance towards
meeting the cost of the Annex. For the fiscal year ending
May 31, 1852, the surplus fees amounted to $5,506.
The total receipts for the twelve months were $47,744.87,
and the disbursements $45,203.53,—nearly
double, in both instances, the figures submitted by the
bursar a quarter of a century earlier. The expenses approximated
the receipts in 1852, in consequence of the
heavy charge for erecting the Annex. By the end of
the fiscal year in 1855, the receipts had mounted up to
$38,978.10; and of the corresponding year in 1857, to
$57,581.86. This sudden jump was due to an enlargement
of the annuity by a special temporary grant; and
$5,065.96 had also been appropriated for the purpose of
making certain repairs and improvements. The normal
average income still ranged below $40,000; but there had
been a decided increase in its volume. This was attributable
in part to the growing amount of the surplus
fees, which swelled, in 1852, to $7,514.66, and in 1853
to $10,043.91.

The expenditures were always held under a rigid curb,
and appear, in no year, to have run beyond the receipts,—
indeed, for some of the fiscal years, they fell short of
the receipts by figures ranging all the way from $650.00
to $5,178.15. The details of the expenditures for a
normal year are accurately exemplified in those for 1849;
the salaries of the professors and officers, during that
session, absorbed about eleven thousand, six hundred dollars;
the cost of repairs and improvements, about two
thousand more; the library, about one thousand; and the
hire of labor, about two hundred and fifty. The rest of
the outlay embraced the following items; printing, about
three hundred dollars; contingent expenses, about four
hundred; the several schools, about three hundred; State
students, about five hundred and fifty; and the dispensary,
about two hundred. The total expenditures were sixteen
thousand dollars in amount.[18]