Page 59 - Annual Report 2016 - Cover & Divider Pages.indd

Higher Education: Gross and Net Fees

(Percent Growth re: Net Fees)

$10,000,000
$9.8

$8,000,000

$6,000,000 $5.9
$5.5
Percent Incr (Decr)
$4,000,000 $3.2 $3.9
$2.7 $3.5
$2.4 Gross Revenue
$1.6 $1.5
$2,000,000 Net Revenue
21%
$-
-2% -8%
-26% -32%
$(2,000,000)
FYE 12 FYE 13 FYE 14 FYE 15 FYE 16

Over the past several years, Higher Ed project profitability has been significantly and negatively
affected by the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools project. FY 2016 was no exception. A
modest profit of 3.2% on all non-U of C projects was more than offset by the financial challenges of
the Laboratory Schools effort. The good news is the Lab Schools project entered the Close Out
phase in FY 2017, so our time will be greatly reduced as we complete the project.

As noted in the Executive Summary, we are seeing improvements in profitability with high profile
clients such as the University of Illinois and Northwestern University. These projects demonstrate
attention given to internal budgeting, staffing, client relations, and fee-specific work plans can
greatly improve our financial picture. We continue to recognize there is value gained from
assessing those projects in the practice that have been financially successful and replicating those
project controls and good habits to other projects.