A financially troubled university has posted a small surplus after receiving a $25 million insurance payout.

According to a jointly commissioned report by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), the university would not reach a surplus in the next 10 years and a merger would be its best chance at survival.

However, Lincoln University’s 2016 annual report showed that it secured its “first financial surplus in a decade,” thanks to a $1 million land sale, the conversion of a $1.70 million loan into a donation, and $25 million worth of earthquake insurance payments, according to reports by Fairfax Media and Radio NZ.

A $17 million surplus dwindled down to $493,000 after “unusual items” were taken into account, including the costs of its restructure and the upcoming Lincoln Hub.

Commenting on the TEC report, Lincoln University vice-chancellor Robin Pollard said the suggestion to merge the university with another institution is “naive,” and proposed instead that Lincoln “go deeper in [its] specialist niche.”

“People think in New Zealand that universities need to be large and comprehensive, that’s the current model of a university that’s in everybody’s mind... but that has not always been the case,” Pollard told Fairfax.

The university posted a near $7 million in deficit in 2015.

Lincoln’s CFO Howard Gant said the university saw a revenue increase of nearly $10 million after it cut down its expenditure by $5 million last year.


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