Well the school has sunk a lot of money into facilities so I'm sure they are in debt but their income should be up with enrollment and tuition increasing. Also they spend way too much money on clubs/organizations within the school. I know my club team got close to 20k a year, I wasn't complaining as a team member because all of our trips were 100% funded and I had just as nice of uniforms/warm ups as soccer or basketball team. Any other school we played had to do their own fundrasing. I'm curious as to how much the school gives the Haraya probably the biggest organization on campus.
I'll probably be criticized for saying this, but the school needs to start prioritizing what is important. Speaking from a pure academic standpoint, the university is all over the place. The two bread and butter programs in the school are (1) College of Pharmacy (2) School of Law. And speaking as someone who graduated from the Tobin College of Business, I thought it was a pretty solid learning experience. As for other programs offered, I'm unsure if they are really bringing anything in for the school. I know for a fact that a lot of employees of the school are embarrassed by the College of Professional Studies. This is basically an equivalent of Nassau or Suffolk Community College. Not that there is anything wrong with NCC or SCC, but it doesn't belong at St. John's. And I'm sure that it is draining more of the school's resources than supplementing them.
And let's face something here ... St. John's does not instill a sense of pride that a lot of other institutions do. I work with people from out of state schools such as Duke, UNC, and Texas A&M. And I also work with people from local schools such as NYU, Hofstra, and Binghamton. And let me tell you they have a hell of a lot more pride in their school than SJU does. I don't know what it is, but SJU students never really felt that connection that other students did. Maybe I'm talking out of my ass, but at least that's what I always felt. Now how does this relate? I'm sorry, but if people don't feel like the school is working in your best interest, they aren't going to donate or contribute when times are tough. Whether it be a $100 or a $5 million facility upgrade, people are hesitant to give their money to a school that never appeared to care in the first place.
If there is one thing besides basketball that the school really needs to work on, it's getting in touch with the students and prospective students down the road. Whether it be focus groups or polls or interactive platforms, if you don't build some type of kinship, you'll label yourself permanently as a second or third rate university.