SUNY weathers storm, but more clouds on horizon
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As the leadership team came forward last week for recognition of the State University of New York at Fredonia's bicentennial year, CHQ Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Heitzenrater made a request to those seated at tables in the audience. If you were a graduate of the north county institution, please stand.
Looking around the crowd of 300 business and community leaders in attendance at the chamber's annual awards banquet in the Williams Center on campus last week, more than one-third were out of their chairs. It was a testament to the impact and success the university has contributed to the community through the years.
With alumni descending on the region this weekend for homecoming, which starts today, SUNY Fredonia appears to be making strides after some of the most turbulent times in its storied history. Most of its troubles are tied to enrollment, a key revenue source, which has decreased by 24% since 2020, falling from more than 4,100 to the current 3,100.
Though the drop is significant -- and quite evident in the community and on campus -- there are reasons for optimism regarding the direction the university has taken with the support of SUNY leadership. During the recent years of crisis, difficult but necessary steps have been taken.
What is often the case with taxpayer-supported entities is reductions proposed by administrators are met with resistance and a degree of skepticism. In reality, SUNY Fredonia had little choice. Its budget deficit was between $10 million and $12.5 million three years ago. Staying the course would have been fiscally irresponsible.
A first round of cuts was announced in December 2023, with students, faculty and administrators present in Rosch Recital Hall. Thirteen majors were eliminated, including early childhood education (birth through grade 2), mathematics for grades five through nine, visual arts programs in ceramics, photography, sculpture and art history, French and its adolescence education program, Spanish and its adolescence education program, philosophy, sociology, and industrial management.
That announcement was met with a smattering of cheers and a louder chorus of boos. At the time, those programs represented 15% of all majors on campus and had a combined enrollment of just 74 students, or 2.2% of the undergraduate population, President Stephen Kolison said.
Another effort to right-size the university was announced shortly after commencement last spring. Ten undergraduate programs, four graduate programs and seven minors were slated for deactivation in future years.
“Our collective work as a campus to close our deficit is grounded in our responsibility to ensure SUNY Fredonia continues as a strong and sustainable institution for our students and our community,” Kolison said in May. “By balancing fiscal discipline with strategies to grow our enrollment, we have made significant progress in reducing our deficit by nearly half. These and other actions keep us on a path toward long-term financial stability.”
There's no denying the results when looking at the balance sheet. In less than three years, enrollment has begun to stabilize, and Fredonia's deficit has been whittled down to $2.1 million. SUNY Chancellor John King disclosed that figure during an interview with The Buffalo News last week.
In Albany's eyes, SUNY appears to be a funding anomaly. Unlike area school districts and struggling municipalities, including the cities of Dunkirk and Buffalo, the system's campuses are not receiving any bailouts.
Whether through King's decisions or the lack of action by the New York state Legislature, there has been an unspoken edict to tighten the belts at all financially struggling SUNY campuses, including Potsdam and Buffalo State.
Looking at the higher education landscape, the situation appears to be becoming dire on a national level as well. BestColleges, which describes itself as a trusted online education adviser since 2013, notes that enrollment declines are forecast to continue. According to a 2024 model from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the declines are tied to fewer births during and after the 2007 recession.
Overall, BestColleges notes, 49 institutions have closed or announced closures, and at least 40 have merged since March 2020. Close to home, those institutions include Cazenovia College in Central New York, The College of Saint Rose near Albany and Medaille University in Buffalo, all of which closed over the last four years.
Those statistics show that the challenges facing some SUNY campuses are not limited to this region or upstate New York. It is a nationwide dilemma confronting even prominent higher education institutions.
Tough decisions loom for many prominent institutions. This is no time for a learning curve.
John D'Agostino is the editor of The Post-Journal, OBSERVER and Times Observer in Warren, Pa. Send comments to jdagostino@observertoday.com or call 716-487-1111, ext. 253.