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MONTHLY ARCHIVES
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No Spring Semester for 400 Syracuse Students?
December 05, 2008 12:39 PM
ABC News On Campus reporter Matt Gelb blogs:
Syracuse University launched an emergency drive Thursday to raise an additional $2 million by Jan. 31 to help students deal with the rising costs of attending college.
According to the university, about 400 students will not be able to return to Syracuse for the spring semester without more financial aid. On average, those students will need an additional $5,000.
“The global financial crisis has raised real barriers in the lives of many of our students and their families, and we will face the challenge resolutely, as we always have,” Syracuse Chancellor Nancy Cantor said in a press release. “The SU community will respond -- again.”
The 45-day fundraising drive, called Syracuse Responds, will begin with direct mailings and e-mails to alumni and donors. The university also launched a Web site to promote the initiative.
The university said it has granted financial aid appeals for 1,318 students, 202 more students than it did last year.
Much like other universities across the nation, Syracuse has seen its endowment decrease significantly. In the past three months, SU’s endowment has shrunk by $170 million. Last week, Cantor announced the school would reduce central administrative costs by $8 million this year and $11 million next year.
Syracuse launched a billion-dollar campaign for fundraising Nov. 2, 2007. At its launch, the school had raised $509 million. In the past 13 months, SU has raised another $99 million.
For now, though, the priority is on the extra $2 million needed for immediate student support.
“I've been pleasantly surprised by the immediate outpouring of support we've seen from alumni, parents, faculty and friends of the University who have understood very quickly and comprehensively the urgency of this challenge,” said Brian Sischo, associate vice president, in the press release. "At the same time, however, it's going to require significant effort from everyone to reach this fundraising goal in such a tight timeframe.”
December 5, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (11)
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Being an alum myself - perhaps they should spend less on brick walkways.
Posted by: Robo | Dec 5, 2008 12:50:07 PM
How I would love to help...yet I'm paying off my first child's Syracuse tuition (as is he), and my third child is currently enrolled there. I have another child in another college. This is truly scary for middle class families who value education and hoped for the best for their kids. I hope that relief is on the way through service pay-back, etc. College should be available to all kids.
Posted by: Robin George | Dec 5, 2008 2:27:29 PM
How I would love to help...yet I'm paying off my first child's Syracuse tuition (as is he), and my third child is currently enrolled there. I have another child in another college. This is truly scary for middle class families who value education and hoped for the best for their kids. I hope that relief is on the way through service pay-back, etc. College should be available to all kids.
Posted by: Robin George | Dec 5, 2008 2:27:30 PM
If the students can't afford it, then they can't go. Simple as that. Being from NY, I would have loved to have attended SU. I didn't because I couldn't afford it. Why didn't the university hold a fundraiser for me?
Posted by: Lee | Dec 5, 2008 2:32:10 PM
I went to SU and worked there. I know how much the football and basketball coaches recieve in their paychecks. It is disgusting how little the professors make and support staff compared to them. Then to add insult the buden of extremely high tution costs placeed on students. I will be paying off my college costs until I die. I think maybe they should evaluate thier distribution of monies. I feel sorry for the students not for SU.
Posted by: K.Becker | Dec 5, 2008 2:46:14 PM
Kids in our country are unwittingly letting themselves be fooled by expensive colleges and universities and pushy guidance counselors (and in some cases their own parents). The truth is that if you're in New York, you can get a GREAT education from the fine state system - like the Universities at Buffalo, Binghamton, Albany, Stony Brook,.... at a fraction of Syracuse U's cost. High priced colleges and the best known colleges don't always pay the bills - and sadly don't necessarily offer programs that are better than cheaper or lesser known schools. Some smaller or less prestigous private schools also offer financial aid more generous (merit aid in particular) than what you'd get at a place like Syracuse to begin with. Kids also need to be empowered in knowledge beyond acadamia -- the skilled trades (electrician, plumbing, carpentry, etc) can be a better payoff for some kids and more FUN than academics. College should be a serious endeavor where you learn how to strive for excellence, to interact better with others, and learn vital skills -- it should not be just another holding place in our American education system. We spend so much on education as a nation at all levels but you would think that we'd have better results.
Posted by: Joe C | Dec 5, 2008 3:12:58 PM
The University does actually gives financial aid for both need based and academic performance in high school (or how well you do on the SATs). If you posses only one of those it will be harder to get money. Luckily I was able to manage getting money for both reasons, and it was actually cheaper for me to attend SU than it would have been to attend a state school (state schools are cheaper but don't really give aid). I came out with under 10 grand of loans - it didn't hurt that I worked to help pay for it over the 4 years I was there. With respect to the football and basketball coaches making a lot of money - whether people like it or not, they generate a lot of money for the university. You see a similar situation with these people who work in finance - they don't provide a vital service that's more important than say a teacher or professor, but they somehow generate a ton of revenue and get paid accordingly. These coaches yearly earnings are also skewed a bit, because the university doesn't pay all the money they make - they make a good chunk from endorsements.
Posted by: Steve M. | Dec 5, 2008 6:27:37 PM
I sure do enjoy making things plural when I don't mean to. Ah well.
Posted by: Steve M. | Dec 5, 2008 6:28:34 PM
As a SUNY Brockport graduate, I can attest that you can gain a formidable education without paying the big bucks. I am finishing my MBA at a great school in FL. Save your dollars for graduate/doctoral work. It's not worth it for an undergraduate degree.
Posted by: Nadra | Dec 5, 2008 7:57:58 PM
Well the US Military will pay all their
Tuition all they need to due is spend a few years serving there country. Have you not heard of the new GI bill. EVERYBODY WANTS SOMETHING FOR NOTHING SERVE YOUR COUNTRY.
Posted by: Joe Jim | Dec 6, 2008 4:27:15 PM
That's terrible. I hope my friends at Syracuse are able to back. Until then, let's go Syracuse!
Posted by: Coot66 | Dec 6, 2008 9:50:53 PM
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