By the Numbers

Cash balance prior to the merger

Cash balance after the merger

Enrollment Data from 1968 to 1972

Monetary grants prior to merger

Monetary grants after the merger

An important parameter that is necessary to analyze is the actual number of enrollments and balance sheets of the years leading up to the merger. The clearest example of this, is found on the "Full time degree freshman enrollment" documents. There is a substantial decrease in the majority of majors, for example in the year 1969 a total of 92 freshmen enrolled in Aerospace Engineering. In 1972, a year before the merger a total of 29 freshmen enrolled in this major. The number of total enrolled undergraduate students was also found and in every major there was a decrease. The decrease in enrollment numbers however do not just apply to Poly. In a subsequent section of the exhibition, certain underlying conditions surrounding engineering enrollment and college education in general will be analyzed.

Additionally, this page also includes a few financial documents that were found in the Board of Trustees minutes. These show that along with dwindling enrollment numbers, Poly was continuing to lose revenue and increase debt up to 1973. In 1972, Poly had a cash balance of $1,212,024 and in the first period after the merger, Poly received $2,035,879 in 1974. This shows that the merger with NYU did have an immediate effect on the cash balances of the institution and that due to this, Poly was able to continue its operations and improve them for the following years. 

Another parameter that can be taken into consideration is the value of the grants Poly received before and after the merger. In 1972, a year before the official merger took place, Poly had an available budget from the grants of $2,100,000. In 1974, after the merger Poly now had an available $1,700,000 from the grants. This might be counterintuitive since it can be assumed that after the merger the situation for Poly might improve in many aspects, but in this case the grants decreased. This might be because after the merger, certain donors and organizations lost confidence in Poly and were not willing to donate as much. From the names of the donors, there are very few that have the same name, meaning that Poly after the merger had to obtain new donors which explains the decrease in this budget. 

These numbers clearly show that Poly endured financial hardships in the early 70s. This was then gradually relieved by the merger with NYU. In the following exhibit, the reasons why there were dwindling enrollment numbers and donations will be explored.