Carolina Friends School

Carolina Friends School is burning the cushion faster than the 2.0-year buffer suggests. Expenses are outpacing revenue 7.8% vs 0.8% per year over three years, and the latest operating margin is -11.3% on a 91% tuition-dependent revenue mix. Covering the deficit at today's rate, it would take more than a decade to exhaust reserves — the full budget, by contrast, is covered for about 2.0 years if every revenue line stopped. The board conversation here is the recovery plan for the operating model and the timeline to break-even. NACUBO Composite Financial Index: 2.7 / 10, watch.

Carolina Friends School operates at 91% tuition dependency — among the most tuition-reliant 10% of peers in its cohort. A soft admissions year would flow straight to operations.

Carolina Friends School reported $16.1M in revenue against $17.9M in expenses in fiscal year 2023, the most recent filing on record. Net assets stood at $36.4M — about 2.04x annual operating expense.

Operating margin landed at -11.3%, with 90.5% of revenue coming from tuition. Among same-size peers, that puts Carolina Friends School at the p0 on operating margin.