By all accounts, Oberlin College is not in a financial crisis, but students can’t help but feel like it is. Oberlin’s endowment in the 2025 fiscal year was $1.48 billion. According to the Form 990, found on ProPublica — the annual information return for tax-exempt organizations — Oberlin had an (albeit outlying) surplus of $146,883,351 in net income in 2024 due to larger than average contributions. The prior year, the College accrued a more customary net income of $34,836,695.
Between June 2024 – June 2025, Oberlin made $149 million from students alone, according to the 2025 audit report. Students are consistently disappointed with student life; concerns are brought to the Office of Residence Life through work orders but never seem to be permanently solved. Three years of housing is roughly $29,900, or the equivalent of $1,107 per month in rent. The College received $26 million last year from student housing fees alone, according to the Oberlin Financial Report.
Many of the older dorms have mold, and residence buildings including South Hall and East Hall have building-wide drain fly infestations in the plumbing systems, which were installed in 1963. I lived in South Hall last year and made multiple complaints regarding the drain flies. The one attempt made to solve the issue resulted in clogged plumbing and a closed-off bathroom. Woodland Hall residents like myself were adamant about proper ventilation during Woodland Hall’s construction; even so, the windows in the building don’t open, despite this being a major fire hazard.
Net student income makes up 61 percent of operating revenue. In 2024, program service revenue — revenue generated from goods and services that the College provides, including but not limited to student tuition, residential, and dining costs — generated $246,048,589, per Oberlin’s 2025 Form 990. Operating expenses — including building maintenance and salaries — are largely taken out of tuition revenue, according to Director of Finance April Herner. The Form 990 indicates that in 2024, the College spent $108,737,769 of the nearly $250 million in program service revenue on salaries, compensation, and employee benefits, leaving $133 million remaining for upkeep and other operating expenses. It’s hard to believe that much money is available for utilities when building quality clearly isn’t prioritized. Are student requests related to updated facilities truly out of the College’s budget? Priorities should shift to improve the quality of student life. Bryn Mawr College, Middlebury College, Mount Holyoke College, and Kenyon College all provide quality liberal arts educations similar to Oberlin, and all have similar tuition and housing fees, endowment, and student body sizes to Oberlin. They are also ranked higher than Oberlin both overall and in dorm quality.
Many students also feel shortchanged regarding dining plans. Students with fewer than six semesters at Oberlin, unless opting for OSCA, have no choice but to pay $10,126 per year for a meal plan. Both plans have a limited amount of swipes per day: the GoYeo plan allows up to five and the Gold Medal plan allows four. Because of this, by the end of the year, students are left with a significant amount of swipes and limited success in using them up. The cost equivalent of remaining swipes are not returned to students and don’t roll over to the next semester. If students aren’t spending an equivalent amount on food as their dining fees suggest, why should we pay for it up front?
Form 990 indicates that AVI Foodsystems is the third- highest-compensated independent contractor, receiving $14,630,265 this past fiscal year. That high of an annual expense, averaging out to charging students approximately $300 a week during the academic year, does not match the quality of campus dining halls. Reports have been made throughout the years regarding bugs, dirt, and inedible objects found in the food served. If this issue can’t be resolved through conversations with AVI administrators, the College should take a hard look at the quality of its dining services in relation to the price.
A regular grievance that Oberlin students and alumni have with the College is the inconsistent disclosures regarding finances. The College receives a substantial amount of unrestricted donations, usually ranging between $10–19 million per year. Where donations are directed varies each year, but are clearly marked; a large portion of donations are used for the Internship+ Program, which provides third-years with up to $5,000 to offset transportation and housing costs for an internship and is a huge draw for prospective students.
Departments like the Office of Study Away are less transparent. Students interested in studying abroad are required to pay the higher tuition between Oberlin and the Study Away program. This requirement removes price as a deciding factor for students choosing a program; all students will pay at least $34,170 like any Oberlin semester. However, abroad programs cost less on average than a semester’s tuition, at around $20,000 typically. So, what happens to the remainder? It isn’t returned to the student, and it doesn’t roll over to cover the next semester’s fees. Herner could not elucidate where, or to whom, the balance goes. It’s unfair to ask students to pay a higher tuition fee for a cheaper program and not explain why, and it creates more confusion for those paying the bills.
Oberlin College continues to fall in national rankings, and though much of this is attributed to post-graduation earnings, it’s important for both faculty and students to consider the future value of an Oberlin degree. When I first started at Oberlin, the high-caliber academics and campus community stood out most. Now, finishing my third year, it’s hard not to mention the problems my peers and I consistently face, especially when costs are so prevalent in a student’s college life. It begs the question: do the decisions being made by Oberlin College incentivize future alumni to financially support and endorse this institution? Transparency and accountability is what Oberlin’s student body wants, and it’s time the administration provides.
