In today’s competitive environment, national rankings are of critical important to many higher education institutions. These rankings often directly correlate with the quality of the university’s research environment. Therefore, acquiring and maintaining cutting-edge laboratory equipment can be a key driver of a university’s competitiveness.
However, selecting the best approach to finance these investments is often a complex decision. Even in large research institutions, individual departments must leverage their budgets in the most impactful way possible. Strategic financing is one way to maximize budget dollars when updating their facilities—and having an ally in the process is essential.
Challenge:
To maintain its national ranking as a top destination for genetic and life sciences research, a large southwestern university wanted to update nearly a million dollars’ worth of laboratory equipment, including cell analyzers, medical manikins and more.
The question became how to fund such a large, needed purchase. Cash solutions with a fixed budget posed a problem: The school would need to piecemeal their acquisitions over several years, despite the urgency of the need. University leaders worried that taking such a conservative approach would come at the cost of missed opportunities to make smart investments in the future of their academic programs.
Solution:
An asset renewal program with First American Education Finance proved to be a more competitive option. Because asset ownership was a priority for the university, this financing option would allow the university to own the equipment outright at the end of the term, while still maintaining smooth monthly payments. This allowed the university to hit its two key goals: to accelerate its investments and achieve budget certainty.
The university had worked with First American Education Finance previously, and they recognized First American as a trusted financial resource. The school already knew that First American offered extremely competitive interest rates. As important, though, administrators were comfortable with First American’s approach: a single-point relationship with no third parties and a dedicated resource for managing the project details.
Results:
The university was thrilled to partner with First American to better leverage its budget, improve its equipment, capitalize on resources and stay competitive.
Most importantly, having more technology in the classrooms enables the university to not only better educate students, but also to attract world-class researchers who will help keep the university on the cutting-edge of science today.