Post Classifieds
Low enrollment figures may lead to problematic budget gap
By Michael Mazzuto
On October 24, 2012
Buffalo State's enrollment numbers for the 2012-13 school year and the recent news of a new SUNY
allocation model may lead to a several million dollar budget gap.
Buffalo State has seen a drop of 250 students at the undergraduate level, and 180 at the graduate level,
President Aaron Podolefsky said at the most recent College Senate meeting.
The recent dip in enrollment rates are responsible for a $2.4 million projected revenue loss, said Ted
Schmidt, chair of the budget and staff allocation committee and economics and finance department
professor.
The caveat of the expected 11,500 students was a best-case scenario, said Mark Petrie, associate vice
president in the enrollment management department. The campus is "down about 250 students total
from our fall 2012 target" which was "artificially high to begin with."
According to Petrie, enrollment at graduate school programs across the nation are down, bucking recent
trends. When the economy goes down, the cost of higher education goes up. The problem isn't only
relegated to Buffalo State.
SUNY's five-year rational tuition policy calls for a $300 per year increase. However, it must be approved
on a yearly basis by the SUNY Board of Trustees. The tuition hike is supposed to offset the declining
allocation of funds that the college receives from New York State.
SUNY places an emphasis on research universities rather than state colleges when it comes to
subsidizing secondary education. State universities get a bigger piece of the pie because of doctoral
programs. A new model being considered would allocate even more funds to university centers in the
SUNY system.
"They're more expensive to run, more intense with fewer students," Schmidt said.
The annual school budget takes into account revenue from tuition and money from the state. The state
subsidy curbs the cost, with tuition covering the rest. The increase in tuition rates should help, but with
less money coming from the state, combined with a drop in enrollment, the end result is less revenue.
If SUNY reallocates more to research centers in the future, Buffalo State could lose an additional $2.7
million in addition to the $2.4 million already projected, according to Schmidt.
The state gives about 27-28 percent of college costs, and tuition is supposed to cover the rest. That
number could possibly be down to as low as 24 percent in the future. That's a 21 percent difference
when compared to the 45 percent subsidies a research facility like the University at Buffalo receives.
For now, Buffalo State will be able to dip into reserve funds to plug the deficit gap. The aforementioned
tuition hike should fill the difference due to lower enrollment. The increased revenue will eventually get
the school back to even using the savings as reserves, Schmidt said.
Enrollment decline in the school of education graduate program, Buffalo State's largest program, is
going to be reviewed for the future, along with the other programs.
The Enrollment Steering Committee, headed by William Ganley, a professor in the economics and
finance department, will try to figure out the environment of the graduate programs, gather data,
analyze and work on what they can do to expand or revamp the programs, Petrie said.
Michael Mazzuto can be reached by email at mazzuto.record@live.com.
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