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As Nazareth University president Beth Paul readies for her last year at the school, she does so with a significant milestone. The university’s endowment reached $100 million for the first time at the close of its centennial year celebrations.
Paul, who announced her departure from the university early this year, is Nazareth’s 10th president. Since assuming the position July 1, 2020, she has been credited with helping navigate the university’s journey through the COVID-19 pandemic, moving the college to university status, and ushering the school into its centennial year. The school has nearly 2,100 undergrad and 600 graduate students.
For Nazareth, reaching the $100 million endowment mark—up from $68 million when Paul became president—offers opportunities to support students and develop new programming.
“A healthy endowment gives Naz a high degree of flexibility in student support and program development that other institutions—with smaller or more restricted endowments—cannot match,” Paul says.
As she looks ahead to the upcoming academic year, Paul expects the community to be an integral part of the university experience.
“As there has been for the past century, there will continue to be a strong level of collaboration and partnership between Nazareth and the Rochester community,” she says. “Our changemaker students, faculty, and alumni will continue to be deeply ingrained into—and playing impactful roles within—hundreds of companies and nonprofit organizations throughout the region. Our students grow a strong affinity with the Greater Rochester area through impactful experiential learning. As a result, the vast majority of our graduates stay in the Greater Rochester area after graduation.”
The new academic year also brings courses like a graduate degree in business analytics and artificial intelligence and an optics minor—leveraging the area’s strength in that field. Nazareth is slated to host the New York State Association for College Admissions Counseling Annual Conference next June, bringing to campus more than 600 high school counselors, college admissions professionals, and representatives from education organizations.
“This event will put Nazareth top-of-mind among counselors and education consultants who help high school students decide where to attend college,” Paul says.
The Beacon posed a few questions to Paul. Her responses are below.
ROCHESTER BEACON: Nazareth’s endowment reached $100 million for the first time. What was key to achieving that milestone? Was it a goal for the university?
BETH PAUL: First and foremost, at the heart of our endowment growth are the significant and often repeated contributions made by alumni and friends of Nazareth. I am inspired deeply by the passion so many have for the value of a Nazareth University education—and in the desire and generosity to leave a personal legacy at an institution they believe in.
So many people remember a gift that made one of their early dreams possible—funding that changed the course of their lives. They are inspired to pay it forward, and how amazing to do so as an endowment that continues to support future students in perpetuity.
The long-term approach Nazareth and our donors have taken regarding our endowment—and the operation of the university—was also key to reaching this milestone. An endowment and the contributions that build it are a collective investment made over time—in Nazareth’s case, over a century—in the future and ongoing sustainability of the institution. This is also reflected in a judicious investment strategy over many decades.
Reaching the $100 million endowment level was a goal for Nazareth during our recent Centennial Celebration. Endowment growth was part of our Centennial “100 for 100” campaign, which also included gaining 100 new Nazareth Leadership Society members (annual gifts of $1,000 or more) and 100 new 1924 Loyalty Society members (consecutive gifts for three years). Another goal is securing 100 new Founders Legacy Society members (planned gifts), which Nazareth is more than halfway to achieving.
ROCHESTER BEACON: How do you hope to use these dollars to advance Nazareth’s mission and long-term sustainability? What does it mean for students?
PAUL: Central to our utilization of endowment funds is a commitment to increased and consistent financial aid to incoming and already enrolled students, and enhancements to launch or expand campus programs not covered by our operating budget.
This improves the student experience and makes Nazareth attractive to students, which in turn helps keep our enrollment solid and ensures that students who come to Nazareth have a great experience and choose to remain at Nazareth. Cumulatively, this equates to long-term institutional sustainability.
ROCHESTER BEACON: How does the $100 million endowment milestone position Nazareth among peer institutions? Does this open the door to new opportunities or advantageously position the university?
PAUL: Honestly, it’s not just the big milestone number of $100 million which does put us in a new financial bracket—it’s what that $100 million consists of. At Nazareth, a significant percentage of our endowment consists of unrestricted funds. While there are certainly many donors who have a passion for a particular program and have specific ways they’d like their contributions used—which is totally understandable—that fact that such a high percentage of Nazareth donors have given unrestricted money shows the trust they have in Nazareth to use these funds in the most impactful manner.
A healthy endowment gives Naz a high degree of flexibility in student support and program development that other institutions—with smaller or more restricted endowments—cannot match. This gives Nazareth advantages in our ability to be innovative and responsive to student needs, and to support the faculty and staff that support our students—all of which puts us in another echelon within the higher education community. A healthy endowment is a cornerstone for any institution that’s strong and growing like Nazareth.
ROCHESTER BEACON: Higher education institutions are under great pressure and scrutiny. How has this period been for Nazareth? How do you plan to balance endowment growth and education affordability?
PAUL: There’s no doubt that these are challenging times for institutions of higher learning. The so-called “demographic cliff”—the nationwide statistical drop in college-age individuals that’s already underway and is expected to last another 10-15 years—is a big hurdle for all colleges and universities, Nazareth included. And the many drastic and unpredictable policy shifts underway in Washington, D.C., have made higher ed a very complicated landscape to navigate.
Fortunately, Nazareth has held our own enrollment-wise, and with especially significant increases in first-year applications for the last two years. Our financial health is also strong, as indicated by Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings, which recently affirmed its BBB+ long-term rating on the Monroe County Industrial Development Corp., N.Y.’s existing revenue bonds, issued for Nazareth University, with a stable outlook. To be affirmed with a stable outlook in the current climate is more than a noteworthy achievement and reflects Nazareth’s high financial standards, competency, and commitment.
Being financially healthy and having an equally healthy endowment enables Nazareth to focus on affordability for our students and their families. Institutional financial health and a robust endowment create opportunities for financial aid and scholarships that make a Nazareth education affordable. Because of our small size, we are able to engage incoming and already-enrolled students on a very personal basis regarding cost of attendance. We speak with almost every incoming student on a face-to-face, one-on-one basis about how to make sure their Nazareth experience is not only of the highest academic caliber, but also an affordable one.
Smriti Jacob is Rochester Beacon managing editor.
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