Financial Difficulties

This 1974 report from Poly Archive discusses the merging of the two institutions: Polytechnic Institutes of Brooklyn (PIB) and New York University School of Engineering and Science in 1973. Polytechnic Institute of New York (PINY) submitted this report to Carnegie Corporation of New York in 1974. The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic organization founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States. Since this company is a non-profit organization and their purpose is to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding, it totally makes sense that PINY submitted the report to Carnegie Corporation of New York to announce their situation with no cost. This brief financial history tells us the history of the two institutions and how difficulties regarding the decline of the enrollment rate impacted both schools from potential growth. It also tells us about how the merger impacted both Polytechnic and New York University; the new program at that time raised an endowment for about $100 million to achieve financial stability.

This New York Times article from 1986 describes the financial difficulties of PIB and NYU. Due to the cutbacks in Federal Science and engineering support from the government, Polytechnic had a tough time keeping its school without the subsidies from states, and even worse, engineering students’ enrollment had declined nationwide due to an economic hardships. Thus, Polytechnic was forced by economic hardships to merge with New York University in 1973, locating at Bronx, and eventually, the institution changed its name to Polytechnic institute of New York.

This New York Times article from 1999 talks about the big money that Polytechnic Institution had received from a donor. Donald Othmer, who was a former professor in Polytechnic, donated about $340 million to the school. This shows that the school considered how they used donations to improve and develop for their school. There were considerations such as employing new professorships, planning to build a new dormitory or a new academic building and so on.