President Richard Freeland said Thursday he sees the university’s financial stability as the most important priority facing his successor.

Speaking before the Student Government Association (SGA), Freeland said the university is operating on a “shoestring budget,” and that needs to change.

For a president who has made his mark by having a direct hand in a number of projects at once, the president was unusually candid about his expectations for the president who will succeed him in nine months.

“My biggest worry is not our academic health, not our attractiveness – those things are important – but my biggest concern going forward is financial. It is the ability to raise private money to help support this institution,” he said.

With one of the highest tuition rates among schools the university competes with, Northeastern has suffered from complaints the school is too dependent on tuition and student fees.

Freeland cited other institutions with which the university competes, which are able to draw a higher percentage of their resources from alumni gifts and endowments.

Above all, the next president “must be very effective in reaching out to our alumni,” Freeland said.

“This is a very different challenge than we’ve faced in the past 10 years,” he said.