As of June 30, 2024, one-time designated balances and reserves in the operating fund totaled $2.4 billion systemwide. These balances and reserves support the core operations of the university. To mitigate the budget challenges in 2023-24, CSU universities used their designated balances and reserves. It is anticipated that one-time designated balances and reserves will be utilized again in 2024-25 and will be used further in 2025-26 to address some of the budget gap. The 23 CSU universities and the Chancellor’s Office only have $777 million of reserves for economic uncertainty that are not obligated for a specific purpose. These funds are equivalent to about 34 days of operations for the entire CSU system. This is far below the university policy and national best practices that stipulate reserves cover at least three to six months of operations. The table below shows designated balances and reserves in detail.
Designated Balances
| Short Term Obligations
| $1,247,309,000
|
| | Capital Infrastructure
| $315,559,000
|
| Catastrophic Events
| $30,221,000
|
Reserves
| Reserves for Economic Uncertainty
| $776,585,000
|
Designated balances and reserves are determined and reported annually by the universities and the Chancellor’s Office and are published on
CSU’s financial transparency portal.