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The campus Starbucks, located in Kelly Commons, will be replaced in the near future.

MANHATTAN.EDU / COURTESY

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Brooke Della Rocco, News Editor

Manhattan University’s second senate meeting of the semester was held on Tuesday, March 25, where budget planning, low staffing levels in the Department of Residence Life and the shutdown of the Starbucks in Kelly Commons were discussed. President Frederick Bonato Ph.D., was present along with Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer James Perrino, to weigh in on future plans.

While it is difficult to predict enrollment for the coming Fall 2025 semester, Bonato announced that Manhattan University has received 14,000 applications compared to last year’s 9,500. The majority of these applications are from out-of-state students, with most applying to be a resident student for the school year. This is highly important to MU due to its dependency on revenue from student housing.

“A lot of our revenue is tuition dependent,” Perrino said. “It’s student dependent…In 2024 about 80% of our total revenue is derived from the student generated activities. So as enrollment goes, so does our year financially.”

In 2024, the university had $119 million in revenue but spent $145 million which created an operating deficit of $23.9 million. Roughly $14 million of that deficit is made up of a depreciation expense. While not an out-of-pocket expense, it is reflected on financial statements. 

The spending rate for the institution has been increased as well, moving from 5% to 7% in 2024 and remaining that way for 2025. As of 2026, it will revert back to 5%. Perrino spoke about how this will affect the MU community as an institution.

“It’s important as we start to think about how we move forward as an institution,” Perrino said. “What resources do we have and how we can execute on different strategic initiatives, but it’s also important for our bond rating.”

MU is rated based upon the strength of their finances and their ability to repay our bonds by both Fitch ratings and S&P Global. Fitch scored the university BBB+ with a negative outlook, while S&P scored BBB with a negative outlook. 

A lot of these ratings are reliant on seeing improved operating performance, which relies once again on MU’s tuition dependency.

“I will say, you know we still have challenges,” Bonato said. “I would say cautiously, it’s getting better…But it’s still a bit of a pretty big hill we [have] got to climb. But we can do it.”

Looking towards budget planning for 2026, the target or estimated enrollment involves 750 incoming freshmen and 125 transfers with a discount rate of about 61%. The goal remains to hit a break even number within the finances. 

The senate then moved to discuss the apparent low staffing levels located in the Department of Residence Life. The department still has five open positions including two area coordinators, one residential success coordinator, one associate director of residence life and one housing operations manager. 

However, it was announced that starting April 10, MU will have a new associate director of Residence Life who will be living on campus, with two more candidates who are in the final stages of interviews for the area coordinator positions. 

“I can tell you she [the new associate director] fits what we were looking for,” Senator Kristell Lowe, vice president of Student Life said. “The role in the sense that her care for the student and her focus on the student experience is very evident. So we’re very excited about welcoming her to the team.”

Additionally, the closure of the Starbucks on the bottom floor of Kelly Commons was announced at the conclusion of the meeting. Due to the opening of Zaro’s Family Bakery on campus, the campus life committee observed plummeting sales for Starbucks. Senator Lowe spoke more about their plan for the future of that space.

“We’re going to pause on Starbucks,” Lowe said. “There were also very high requirements on this side as far as capital injection was concerned. So we’re working on a different concept. I don’t have enough details yet to share with you, but when I do you will be the first to know. We’re working on some things based on student feedback, probably healthier options.”

While constant upgrades and beneficial improvements are being made to Manhattan University’s campus, the senate and leadership team have observed a great deal of school spirit and support.

“I believe morale has gotten better,” Bonato said. “It’s got a long way to go. You’ve lived through bad times to be frank, but I believe we hit the bottom and are coming out of it. It’s an upward trajectory.”