Enrollment is up at many local colleges and universities, and that is a positive development, especially at a time when some of them are experiencing significant financial problems.
But that alone is not going to solve the challenges being faced by institutions of higher education, and for some schools, it could be coming at a cost.
Offering scholarships and programs that provide free tuition for eligible students and adult learners may be enticing them to come to the schools, but it may not be having as big of an impact on the bottom line of these universities and colleges. Bringing in more students at reduced and free tuition levels means less revenue for the schools from those additional students.
It is also an example of just how difficult it has become to attract students and solve schools’ financial problems. The pool of traditional college-age students coming directly from high school is down, due to changing demographics, and may shrink even further in the years to come.
The University at Buffalo is anticipating an approximately $6.5 million decline in enrollment revenue this year, despite its largest first-year class ever with 5,019 undergraduate students, mostly due to losing almost 1,000 international graduate students, who typically pay closer to full tuition.
Others, such as SUNY Buffalo State University, SUNY Fredonia and Canisius University, still face structural deficits. Both Fredonia and Buffalo State went through a 40% decline in enrollment over 10 years leading up to 2023.
Canisius’ enrollment is also up this fall after launching a scholarship program for students living in ZIP codes starting with 142, but the university does not expect to ever reach the undergraduate numbers of a few decades ago.
Many local schools have tried to combat those trends by offering free tuition to eligible students living in low-income households and disadvantaged communities.
More recently, community colleges began offering SUNY Reconnect, the state program that effectively makes pursuing associate degrees in high-demand fields at community colleges free for qualified students ages 25 to 55.
To save money, there has also been a move away from some of the older and staler coursework and majors and minors that no longer appeal to today’s students.
As part of an initiative Gov. Kathy Hochul first proposed last year, the state will pick up the tab for tuition, fees, books and supplies toward an associate degree after all financial aid is exhausted.
SUNY Chancellor John B. King said he is optimistic that SUNY will see a third year of growing enrollment across every sector, and he believes that is helping schools’ financial picture. Those numbers won’t be officially released until November.
“At the end of the day, higher ed institutions’ financial model depends on students, so if these initiatives are helping us attract and retain more students, that’s going to be very good for our long-term financial picture,” King said.
St. Bonaventure has managed to avoid much of the turbulence in higher education over the past decade after facing what it called a “crisis” in its enrollment in 2015. For the first time in its 167-year history, St. Bonaventure enrolled more than 3,000 students in the fall.
The university says it has done that without dramatically altering its financial aid awards. Instead, it credits adjusting its academic offerings to meet the needs of today’s students, as well as investing tens of millions of dollars in its educational and athletics programming and facilities.
Daemen University is projecting a 13% increase in fall enrollment for first-year students. The university, which has campuses in both Amherst and Brooklyn, also expects a significant increase this fall from last year in new transfer students and graduate student enrollment.
“We continue to offer generous and competitive academic and need-based scholarships to make an education at Bonaventure affordable, but we’ve done so without having an adverse impact on our fiscal health,” said Tom Missel, chief communication coordinator for St. Bonaventure. “The work we’ve done adding more market-demand academic programs and increasing extracurricular pathways to come to Bonaventure has elevated our market position to make us more attractive to prospective students.”
Villa Maria College has also reached an all-time high for students on campus. It welcomed one of its largest incoming freshmen classes this fall, marking the third consecutive year of total enrollment growth. That comes as it offers free tuition to eligible graduates of the Buffalo Public School system and city charter schools through the Say Yes scholarship.
So far, eight area higher-education institutions have reported an uptick in enrollment this fall. They also include Niagara University, D’Youville University, Daemen University and Niagara County Community College.
College enrollment in the U.S. rose for the first time in fall 2024 to surpass pre-pandemic levels. Across undergraduate and graduate programs, total enrollment increased by 4.5%, or 817,000 students, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
St. Bonaventure’s last four freshman classes, after the two school years hampered by the pandemic, have been its four largest in the last 20 years. The 917 new graduate and undergraduate students enrolled for the fall semester is a significant jump from the class of 390 students at St. Bonaventure a decade ago.
Canisius University’s structural deficit, which at one time reached well over $10 million, is expected to drop to $3.5 million this year, according to Canisius President Steve Stoute.
Over 40% of the students in this latest class are pursuing academic programs that didn’t exist at the university 10 years ago.
The university says it recognized that it needed to expand its academic portfolio to meet market demand, so it added 34 undergraduate and graduate academic programs, while eliminating several under-enrolled programs, since 2015. It also made significant investments in its future on infrastructure upgrades and new or renovated academic, residential and athletic facilities.
St. Bonaventure also created pathways to attract more students through athletics, including the addition of four Division I sports, a second club hockey team and building an esports arena for a varsity team. The university also became the “Official Education Partner of the Buffalo Bills” in 2019, which brought fresh attention.
“When you’re facing a crisis − and let’s face it, when your freshman enrollment dips below 400, it’s a crisis − you have to start thinking outside the box,” David Hilmey, provost and vice president for academic affairs at St. Bonaventure, said in a statement.
Buffalo State, which is now facing a $16 million deficit, was forced to slash 37 low-performing programs that served only 34 students last year, and is now cutting 19 additional programs that have an average of nine students over six bachelor’s degree and two master’s degree programs. At Fredonia, 13 programs and nine minors with low enrollment were eliminated to address the school’s $10 million deficit, which, as of earlier this year, has been cut in half.
The universities are among a number of SUNY campuses trying to find ways to erase structural deficits that piled up over years of declining enrollment that went unmatched by program or staff cuts over the past decade.
Niagara University is building a $2 million state-of-the-art facility inside Bisgrove Hall educational center that’s dedicated to advancing ethical leadership, innovation and immersive experiences. The university plans to work throughout the summer to complete the Scott Bieler Institute for Ethical Leadership and Innovation in time for the fall semester.
Villa Maria officials credit new programming for bringing 630 students to campus this fall, an enrollment increase of more than 15% over the last three years, including 263 new students.
A crime scene investigation program is helping to drive growth, along with increased interest in criminal justice and sports management programs, the college said. They have also pushed for more student support services and a more diverse campus, where the incoming class represents 99 area high schools, including many from Buffalo.
More than 150 students taking advantage of the SUNY Reconnect program are among the more than 3,500 SUNY Niagara students who started classes this fall at the school, 11% more than last fall, the college said.
This is the third consecutive year of enrollment gains at SUNY Niagara, where enrollment had already grown over 18% between the fall 2022 and fall 2024 semesters − the most among all SUNY colleges during that time.
SUNY Erie Community College, which just moved into a smaller South Campus more befitting of current enrollment, also saw an influx of students taking advantage of the availability of the program trying to appeal to adult learners.
“SUNY Reconnect has been very helpful,” King said. “We’ve seen a lot of interest in the program.”
Retaining those students is the next step in the turnaround for higher education.
“Attracting students is important, of course,” John Delate, SUNY Niagara vice president for student services, said in a statement. “But what we do beyond recruitment to make sure students feel good about staying with us is essential, too.”
Colleges and universities have put a heavy focus on making investments in both student persistence to keep them in higher education, and to drive retention, which helps to keep students at a school.
“We still have work to do,” Jeff Gingerich, president of St. Bonaventure, said in a statement. “You can’t afford to let your guard down in higher ed these days.”
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Michael Petro
Reporter
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