The State College of New York skilled enrollment progress for the primary time in a decade, however the modest enhance raises the query of whether or not policymakers’ bold headcount targets for the 64-campus system are achievable.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, has sought to elevate SUNY’s enrollment to 500,000 college students, a far cry from the 367,542 who enrolled for fall 2023. This fall’s depend represents only a 1.1% enhance from the earlier fall’s 363,612 college students.
Nonetheless, the numbers recommend the state’s efforts to interrupt down boundaries to school entry, equivalent to waiving utility charges, are discovering some success.
“I do know firsthand that entry to increased schooling is an engine for social mobility,” Hochul mentioned in a press release Wednesday. “That’s why I’ll proceed to make essential investments in our increased schooling techniques and take steps to make sure school is reasonably priced and accessible for college students of all backgrounds.”
What are the enrollment numbers?
Enrollment rose for all establishment varieties inside the system, which operates two- and four-year schools. Its four-year establishments vary in prominence and measurement, with some having a analysis bent and doctoral packages.
Headcounts at SUNY group schools jumped 1.8% from 159,333 college students final fall to 162,228 college students this time period. Different institutional enrollment rose simply half a proportion level, from 204,279 college students in fall 2022 to 205,314 in fall 2023.
How has SUNY’s headcounts modified over the past decade?
System enrollments from fall 2013 to fall 2023
First-year scholar numbers regarded extra promising, nevertheless. SUNY’s variety of undergraduates coming into school for the primary time leapt 4.3% general, from 64,873 college students final yr to 67,638 in fall 2023.
At group schools, the variety of first-time undergraduates rose to 33,395 this fall from 32,128 final yr, translating to a 3.9% bump.
This growth bodes effectively for the system, because it’s focused on attracting new undergraduates amid state inhabitants declines. Nationwide, schools are bracing for the so-called demographic cliff of traditional-age college students in a few years, a results of decrease start charges through the Nice Recession.
For SUNY, the demographic challenges led to larger efforts to attract excessive schoolers. Within the spring, the system despatched letters to roughly 125,000 graduating highschool seniors within the state, informing them they’d been routinely accepted to a local people school for fall 2023.
This method is called direct admissions, which numerous different states and organizations, just like the Frequent Software, have additionally taken up. The Frequent App is a web based portal enabling college students to use to greater than 1,000 taking part establishments.
SUNY maintains numerous utility price waiver packages, benefiting college students like these in foster care or with navy ties. The system scrapped all utility charges for a part of October, as did different private and non-private schools within the state.
What are the state’s objectives for the system?
Along with the enrollment targets, Hochul has tried to spice up the profile of some establishments. She final yr dubbed Stony Brook College and the College at Buffalo, two of the biggest system schools, as public flagships.
She mentioned she envisioned every college bringing in $1 billion in annual federal analysis funding by 2030. Greater ed students, nevertheless, have described this aim as overly bold and extra in step with funding for a number of the most seen analysis establishments like Johns Hopkins College.
At College of Buffalo, for example, sponsored analysis expenditures have reached solely $232 million. Nonetheless, that was a 16% enhance in comparison with the earlier yr.
A SUNY school union has additionally lambasted Hochul and system leaders, accusing them of turning focus to the newly ordained flagships and equally distinguished establishments whereas hanging much less notable schools out to dry.
The union, United College Professions, this month formally protested a proposal at SUNY Potsdam to chop 10 of its levels to deal with a $9 million price range deficit. Initially, the campus regarded to trim 14. The group accused the system’s governing board of withholding funding from financially fragile campuses.
A system spokesperson referenced the $163 million enhance to SUNY’s state-operated campuses for fiscal 2024, noting that officers are placing the cash towards initiatives like high-demand packages and psychological well being providers. The rise consists of a further $2.5 million for SUNY Potsdam.
“On the similar time, SUNY Potsdam has had an almost 40% decline in enrollment over the previous decade and is making tough however mandatory modifications for the campus’s future,” the spokesperson mentioned through e-mail. “SUNY is dedicated to funding excellence at each campus, and it might be a dereliction of each our fiduciary and academic duties to make use of a historic state funding to plug structural price range deficits at a number of campuses as an alternative of investing in success throughout the complete System.”
SUNY Potsdam’s enrollment fell from 4,224 college students in fall 2012 to 2,427 final yr. Nonetheless, its fall 2023 numbers had been up 3% yr over yr, to 2,501, in line with the brand new SUNY information.
The union is drumming up an analogous protection for SUNY Fredonia, one other struggling campus.
The group mentioned final month it’s “very involved that plans could also be within the works to slash diploma packages at SUNY Fredonia and different campuses dealing with projected multimillion-dollar deficits.”
SUNY Fredonia’s enrollment plummeted by 7.8% yr over yr, from 3,491 college students in fall 2022 to three,220 this yr.
