Financial Indicators Tool (FIT)

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Financial Indicators Tool (FIT)

	Download FIT Report Download your institution's current or previous FITs.
	CIC Benchmarking Services Comparison Group, Selection Service, and Online Consultation
	FIT Sample Report View a sample FIT report

Based on KPMG’s Composite Financial Index (CFI), CIC's FIT provides an easily understood assessment of an institution’s financial performance that can be tracked over time and benchmarked against similar institutions. In the FIT, four financial ratios—measuring resource sufficiency, operating results, financial assets, and debt management—are presented individually and combined into a single index score indicating the financial health of the institution, tracked over a six-year period.

CIC’s Financial Indicators Tool (FIT) is distinctive in two ways. First, it utilizes publicly available data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), as well as IRS Form 990s obtained from GuideStar. The use of these public sources precludes the necessity of requiring each CIC member institution to submit six years of audited financial statements. Second, the FIT provides nationally normed comparisons similar to those in CIC’s Key Indicators Tool (KIT). CIC’s FIT is the first financial benchmarking tool to provide national comparisons for any group of American colleges and universities. The FIT is prepared by the Austen Group and provided to CIC member institutions free of charge, thanks to the generous support of TIAA-CREF.

Funder: TIAA-CREF

Program Status: The Financial Indicators Tool (FIT) report was first tested in December 2005 with a pilot group of CIC member institutions. Annual reports have been distributed to all CIC member institutions since 2007.

NACUBO Business Officer Magazine Article:
View the cover story on the FIT in the April 2009 issue of NACUBO's Business Officer magazine: Diagnosing Fiscal Fitness

Independent Newsletter Articles:
Summer 2009: CIC's FIT Released; Featured in Business Officer
Summer 2008: Second Annual FIT Report Released in April
Winter/Spring 2008: Update on CIC Benchmarking Reports and Services
Winter/Spring 2007: CIC Announces New Financial Benchmarking Service
Summer 2006: Data Initiatives Reach Five-Year Mark

For questions about the FIT, contact CIC Manager of Research Projects Eric Godin at (202) 466-7230.