There have been some SUNY schools in the news with embarrassing administrative problems recently. SUNY Poly, Upstate Medical, ESF come to mind. I don’t know if that necessarily means these schools are in decline or if they are just going through some bad administrators. What have you heard about various schools at SUNY in terms of their academic direction, program strength, or financial solvency? My daughter is considering some of the comprehensives (looking at Geneseo or Oswego while trying to decide her major) but I would like to know more about known or hidden problems in the system.
SUNY Poly did get a bailout package a couple of years ago. Whether it will be able to make payments on the loan component of the package, whether the school is in financial trouble, I do not know. Right now it’s showing a decent endowment per enrollment, whatever that might mean. I believe state schools are dependent on the support of the state and NY state has been responsive to the needs of its schools. It’s the smaller private schools that are on worry lists in terms of viability. If a SUNY should fail, the NY system would step in to ensure that students are not left hanging. No such assurances with private schools.
NYS continues to spend money. The school are not in decline and are going strong. NYS students are choosing them more than ever due to the reasonable cost. I do wonder how the free tuition will work in the long-run. I am curious if SUNY will end up with a budget problem. But not to worry - the NYS budget will continue to tax and spend.
Like most states, NYS is cutting down on the amount of money they give the SUNY schools. I believe most SUNY schools only rely on the state for about 30% of their operating budgets. (And the two-year SUNY community colleges are run by the counties, not the state.)
While no SUNY schools are likely to close, I’m worried that there might be some that are just limping along and where students might not get the best quality education.
My son left ESF after a semester, for a variety of reasons but among the complaints we heard from him were things such as not getting timely feedback from professors about progress either directly or through the student portal, which put some kids in jeopardy- they should have withdrawn from a class and would have had they realized how dire the situation was but by the time they knew they were sunk and it was too late to withdraw. We also heard about overloaded freshman schedules with lack of usable office hours (can’t go see a prof about one class when you’re in another) and difficulty getting in to see an advisor. We thought he was just being dramatic. Turns out the school surveyed the student body and these issues were among the biggest.
musicmom38, Is your son a current Freshman? When did he leave ESF? I have heard about intense course load of Freshman year and read the survey report. Wondering if any changes were made this year? My son was just accepted and is seriously considering ESF.