The State University of New York mentioned progress at its Fredonia campus in a recent report touting the school system’s activities.

The report was noted in a public relations email from SUNY. The email described a “progress update” that “shows continued leadership on student success, upward mobility and fiscal leadership,” as the title put it.

The update summarizes recent events at each of SUNY’s campuses. For Fredonia, it states the campus “had experienced a 40% reduction in total enrollment from Fall 2013 to Fall 2023.” However, “The campus’s Fall 2024 enrollment increased by 7.2% for first-time undergraduate students.”

Fredonia officials had said, during the most recent meetings of the College Council, that the campus was beginning to turn around its steep decline in enrollment.

SUNY’s email also states of Fredonia, “In addition, the campus has added two new programs: a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and an MBA in Accounting. The Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling is currently the fastest-growing program at Fredonia.”

The email adds that Fredonia’s “deficit has been cut in half.”

The tough part of SUNY Fredonia’s turnaround — program reductions — is not noted in the email. To see that, one has to look at the full report.

The report states that SUNY Fredonia’s “path forward emphasizes expanded student services and the elimination of low- enrolled programs in favor of adding new programs demanded by the students and the state’s economy. The campus has completed the process of deactivating 13 low-enrolled degree programs and is in the process of deactivating nine minors also characterized by low enrollment.”

The end-of-year deficit for SUNY Fredonia in 2023-24 was reported at $4.1 million. The deficit was up to $8.1 million at one point.

The nearest four-year SUNY college to Fredonia, “Buff State” in the West Side of Buffalo, is in a similar situation.

“Buffalo State University has taken important steps to address the campus’s 42% enrollment decline from Fall 2013 to Fall 2023,” according to the SUNY email. “The Buffalo State operational stability plan focuses on areas where the campus excels, including creating new teacher education pipelines, nurturing STEM programs, bolstering art and hospitality programs, strengthening the pipeline of students to Ph.D.’s at the University at Buffalo, and creating Buffalo State’s first doctoral program. Their deficit has been reduced by nearly 25% and previously announced measures – including discontinuing 37 programs enrolling 34 students – should yield another projected 25% reduction this coming year.”