Liberty University Completely Debt Free

[SuperJon]

This is freaking huge news for our school. It's the first time the school has ever been debt free. We almost foreclosed back in the early-90's and now, around 15 years later, we're completely debt free and have started our endowment.

Dr. Falwell had a $34 million dollar life insurance policy that came back to the school. We were $20 million in debt. The life insurance policy paid off all of the bills as well as started the endowment that Dr. Falwell always had a dream for (he wanted a $1 billion endowment). Along with the extra $14 million, there was a $2.5 million donation as well as two large donations planned as well. We went from being $20 million in debt to having a $16.5 million dollar endowment.

As a former basketball coach said, it's a great day to be a Flame.

[Go...gate]

Agree with him or not, you gotta give him a hell of a lot of credit - he truly put his money where his mouth was.

[Weems]

thats great. My younger sister is heading there as a Freshman, maybe they won't be sending us as much stuff to donate anymore?? :) Congrats to the flames!

[SuperJon]

Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. offered a trio of historic announcements during a fall briefing with the faculty and staff of Liberty University, today.

Falwell began the university meeting by stating that, due to the substantive insurance policy of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, Liberty University is now debt free and can aggressively focus its fund raising efforts on solidifying the university’s endowment.

http://libertyflames.com/index.cfm?PID=10869&newsID=1566&TeamID=

[ngineer]

This is freaking huge news for our school. It's the first time the school has ever been debt free. We almost foreclosed back in the early-90's and now, around 15 years later, we're completely debt free and have started our endowment.

Dr. Falwell had a $34 million dollar life insurance policy that came back to the school. We were $20 million in debt. The life insurance policy paid off all of the bills as well as started the endowment that Dr. Falwell always had a dream for (he wanted a $1 billion endowment). Along with the extra $14 million, there was a $2.5 million donation as well as two large donations planned as well. We went from being $20 million in debt to having a $16.5 million dollar endowment.

As a former basketball coach said, it's a great day to be a Flame.

If this were the subject of one of those many crime shows on TV, one of the leads would now be saying that maybe Falwell's demise was not natural..a true heart attack? Something get slipped into the breakfast o.j.?. Was there a toxicology study done? .Makes the slogan, "Give me Liberty, or give me death" take on a different perspective...;)
Must say that I've heard of large life insurance payouts before, but this ranks right up there. While I had no use for Falwell's views on many things, I do admire his devotion to his school.

[SuperJon]

Most people use their life insurance to cover all of their bills when they pass away. Dr. Falwell was the founder and chancellor of our school, so he probably felt like our bills were his bills and wanted us to be in good shape when his time was up.

[texcap]

Not meaning any disrespect to Dr. Falwell, but was he still as "portly" as he was in years past? I do not remember seeing recent pictures of him. Can you imagine the premiums on a $34,000,000 life insurance policy for a guy in his 60's and overweight? What kind of company would take on that amount of riosk and how old was the policy?

[Sly Fox]

My understanding is that these were longstanding policies and the premiums and coverage were raised significantly over the years. And yes he was a large man until his passing.

We're still a relatively young school at just 36 years old. So we don't have the type of endowment that many of our FCS brethren have in their coffers. We have grown at such a fast rate that our funds have primarily gone to expanding the campus and operational costs. This will help jumpstart the efforts to build up the endowment.

[bobbythekidd]

Dave Ramsey would approve. WTG Flames.

[rokamortis]

Great news for the Flames ... bad news for the conference as Liberty will be able to devote even more resources to athletics.

[Tribe4SF]

Great news for all you Flamers.

Like many, I was not a fan of some of Dr. Falwell's politics, but respect his faith, and his vision for the school. The question now will be whether new leadership provides the clear vision to build from here. There is an inevitable vacuum created when an organization loses its lone, singular head.

I would assume that A.L. Williams wrote at least some of that insurance coverage. Maybe he has a similar policy on himself. Even if he doesn't, with a net worth in excess of 1.5 billion, he can do alot for Liberty.

[Sly Fox]

It doesn't appear at first glance that Art was involved in these policies. But they were more recent buys than I was originally led to believe.


Falwell Jr. said his father had purchased between six and eight insurance policies through three or four insurance agencies. Falwell Jr. said later Friday he wasn't sure offhand of the names of the agencies.

A $21 million policy bought in 2003 cost the school about $1 million annually, Falwell Jr. said.

"A lot of people were surprised that we were even able to buy a policy like that at that age but looking back it was a good decision," he said. "He was the one that really wanted to buy these policies - I sort of stayed out of these meetings because you like to think your father will never die."

Click Here for Full Story from Lynchburg Paper (http://tinyurl.com/3bape7)

[colgate13]

Congrats... now realize, you'll be in debt again sometime in the foreseeable future. Colleges can't help but borrow money. The good news is your bond ratings will be better now that you have a positive net worth!

[SuperJon]

Mr. Williams has done a ton for our school and is continuing to do even more.

There's no question that the school will keep building on the vision with Jerry's son being the chancellor and him having hand-picked the athletic director.

[Sly Fox]

Congrats... now realize, you'll be in debt again sometime in the foreseeable future. Colleges can't help but borrow money. The good news is your bond ratings will be better now that you have a positive net worth!

You are dead on in your mention of the bond ratings. Our rating killed us as we battled to get out of major debt in the '90s. This should make future borrowing much more palatable.

And we are investing bigtime in our football program right now with major money close to being dropped. Thos eof you who still think of Liberty in terms of our lousy 1-win teams a few years ago will be surprised by the results on the field this fall.