Sharon Scott, staff member, told the Vermont State Colleges Finance and Facilities Committee on Aug. 25 that the system's fiscal 2025 unaudited financial results exceeded budget expectations largely because of unbudgeted state bridge funding and investment income. "System wide, our revenue exceeds our budget," Scott said.

Scott said systemwide revenue exceeded budget by about $15,700,000 and net revenues were expected to surpass targets by about $18,100,000, supported by savings in retiree medical insurance and wage-related expenses. She reported that Vermont State University "very slightly exceeded budget by just a couple of $100,000" with declines in enrollment and room and board offset by gains in workforce development, and that the Community College of Vermont "outperformed its budget by 1,100,000," driven by investment income and improved tuition revenue.

The presenter described expense management as a contributor to the positive variance: shared services and the chancellor's office were below budget because of wage and retiree medical savings. Scott said Vermont State University used its favorable expense variance to pay off system debt related to Vermont Technical College, calling the payoff the "final installment." She also said institutions were allocating funds for future capital projects.

Scott said the federal funds audit was proceeding well and, "as of a week and a half ago, we had no federal funds related audit findings related to our Title IV funds." She told trustees the audit committee is scheduled to review federal funds and the financial audit in mid‑October and at the November board meeting.

Trustees asked clarifying questions about the sources of the unbudgeted revenue and how to treat investment income for future budgeting. Trustee David Durfee asked whether investment income had been budgeted; Scott replied the system had included modest, conservative budgeting for investment income this year and had implemented a laddered investment approach for cash management. Durfee also pressed on a negative variance in "other transfers," and Scott explained that the report presents an unrestricted fund and that transfers occur between unrestricted, restricted expendable and nonexpendable, and capital funds; such transfers can create line‑level variances that do not reflect a systemwide cash shortfall.

The report was informational; no committee action was proposed on the financial results at the meeting. The audit committee will review formal audit outcomes and any recommended actions in October and November, and trustees were told staff would provide those audit reports and related recommendations then.