Officials in New York state are celebrating enrollment increases in the State University of New York system. According to new data, SUNY saw enrollment gains for the second year in a row for the first time in 15 years. Enrollment this fall was up 2.3 percent systemwide year-over-year, and first-year undergraduate enrollment was up nearly 1 percent. One person cheering the numbers is the chancellor of the 64-campus system. John King spoke with WAMC's Ian Pickus.
First of all, what's driving these increases?
Yeah, there are a number of factors. I think Governor Hochul’s commitment to SUNY and to investing in public higher education has been critical. Last year's expansion of the state Tuition Assistance Program, so that college is even more affordable in New York was a factor, and we've been doing a lot of work at SUNY to make sure that people know the great opportunities that are available here across our 64 campuses, and that SUNY is really where affordability and excellence meet. Tuition at our four-year institutions is just $7,070 for the year, and about 52 percent of our students go tuition-free because of federal and state financial aid. So it's very accessible, and we're delivering great programs that lead people to great careers in every industry, from the semiconductor industry to green jobs to now leading the way in artificial intelligence.
Resources are obviously always scarce on college campuses. How do you ensure that with the increase in attendance, you have what the students need on campus once they're enrolled?
Look, it's been great to have such a strong partnership with Governor Hochul and our legislative champions. We've gotten the largest increase in state support in five decades over the last two budget cycles, and we're continuing our conversations with the governor and legislature about important investments. We want to make sure we have the best faculty available. We want to make sure that we have supports like mental health support for our students, that we have rich extracurricular activities for our students, and we're working towards a goal of an internship for every SUNY undergraduate, so that students know when they finish with their degree, they are ready to move into a great job.
Now, we know a lot of people decided not to enroll or took a year off or two during the pandemic, and that was a time of Zoom classes, of course, and a lot of adjustment. So are these numbers just the system recovering to where it expected to be during those years?
Certainly, there's some recovery here from COVID, and we're glad to see that. We also see the potential for even more students to come to SUNY as folks recognize the great value proposition. You know, we've got Micron coming to Central New York, that's going to bring upwards of 50,000 jobs to that region. We want to prepare that workforce. We've got GlobalFoundries here in the Capital Region, leading the way in the semiconductor industry. We want to prepare folks for those jobs. There's huge need in health care. Governor is committed that we need to grow our healthcare workforce by 20 percent; SUNY is going to lead the way on that.
Increasing enrollment is one part of this. But what about retention and graduation rates? We know so many students do not make it through the four years, or whatever the length of their program, to a degree.
You know, we're seeing improvements in persistence at SUNY, driven by some very strategic investments, we have an initiative called ASAP, which is a evidence-based program that provides wraparound supports, intensive advising, emergency financial assistance. And that program has been proven to double completion rates in community colleges around the country. We're implementing that program at both two-year and four-year campuses, at 25 of our campuses, thanks to investments from Governor Hochul, and we're hoping to grow that program even further. We've got about 4000 students in that program now. We're hoping to grow to 10,000 students, and that's helping to shift the culture to say we've got to do everything we can at our institutions to make sure that students are on the path not just to start college, but finish college.
You're a former U.S. Secretary of Education before you were the SUNY Chancellor. What is your reaction to President-elect Trump's promise to do away with the Department of Education?
Look, the U.S. Education Department plays a vital role in a number of areas. One, that's the place where the Pell Grant program, which supports student access to higher education lives. That's the place where the Title 1 program which provides aid to high-needs, K-12 schools lives, that's the place where civil rights enforcement to make sure that schools are protecting student civil rights lives. So there's a vital role for the U.S. Education Department. Certainly, there are folks in Congress who understand that vital role. So I'm sure as the conversations continue, there'll be a lot of rightful attention to all the important things that happen at the U.S. Education Department.
So just to be clear, you know, as a former Secretary of Education and now the SUNY Chancellor, will you advocate against the idea of doing away with the Department of Education?
Of course. I know how important the U.S Education Department is to our students, our families, our communities, and I'm quite confident that folks across the country, whether you're talking about governors or members of Congress, they too recognize how vital that role is.
What could be the possible impacts on the SUNY system of this new administration, DOE or not? I mean, it's obviously going to be a different approach.
Yeah, look, every new administration brings opportunities and challenges. At SUNY, we're going to be prepared to meet those challenges and make the most of those opportunities. But you know, so many of the things that we do at SUNY are truly nonpartisan. Whether you're talking about the workforce development role that we play, that's a nonpartisan issue, or you're talking about the research that we do that's leading the way on identifying diseases earlier and improving treatments, or the research we're doing to strengthen advanced manufacturing, or the research we're doing to help us move towards renewable energy. All of those issues are truly nonpartisan. They're issues of economic development for the state, and we've always worked productively with folks on both sides of the aisle, and I'm sure that will continue to be true.
You know, that being said, Speaker Johnson was in upstate New York stumping late in the campaign, and when asked about the CHIPS Act, he said, ‘Well, we might look at repealing that.’ And that's a statement he later walked back. But obviously, you know, that's a policy that's deeply entwined with the success of the SUNY system, right?
Look, we think it's very important that the United States leads in the semiconductor industry, that we are able to compete effectively with China in that industry, and that's something that is again, I think, a nonpartisan issue. Ultimately, around the country, you've seen Republican and Democratic Governors and legislators embrace the CHIPS Act, because it is going to allow the U.S. to compete economically, and it's good for the U.S. national security. So I'm sure there'll be conversation about how best to move forward, but I'm confident that there we're going to see continued investment in semiconductor industry and semiconductor research, which is a critical leadership role for SUNY.
