this demographic shift, which is massive, is combining with the realization that most college degrees are wildly over-priced.

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Syracuse University issues financial warning as admissions slump: We’re in the red

Updated: Jun. 13, 2026, 8:34 a.m.|Published: Jun. 11, 2026, 8:06 p.m.

SU File Photos Spring 2025

By Emalyn Muzzy | emuzzy@syracuse.com

For the first time in a long time, Syracuse University faces a budget deficit.

In an email to staff and faculty, Chancellor Mike Haynie said SU did not hit its undergraduate enrollment target for next year. As a result the school will not bring in enough revenue to cover its spending.

“This a moment for urgency and purpose — not panic. Universities that respond with focused, strategic effort will emerge stronger. Those that do not will find their options narrowing," Haynie said in the email. “I am committed to ensuring Syracuse is in the former category.”

The email was a candid update from a chancellor who takes over at a perilous time in higher education. Haynie assumed the top job in April.

A deficit could mean more cuts at a university already tightening its belt. Earlier this year, the university offered retirement buyouts for 175 professors. The school is also sunsetting 93 majors.

A big factor in the decline in students is what’s known as the demographic cliff. In 2008, there was a steep drop off in the number of babies being born that never recovered. That generation is now reaching college age, meaning there are fewer traditional students enrolling in higher education.

The population of 18-year-olds peaked at 3.9 million last year and will decline for the next 15 years, Haynie said in the email.

Student services revenue, which consists of tuition, room and board from freshmen and sophomores and student athletic ticket sales, makes up 65% of SU’s operating revenue. A drop in students means the university makes less money.

Undergraduate tuition for the upcoming school year is $69,180, with the total cost for attendance hovering around $95,000 a year for a freshman.

“The stream of revenue into this institution that keeps us alive is very dangerously not diversified. Tuition and housing charges pay virtually all faculty and staff salaries,” Haynie said during a Newhouse meeting in May. An employee shared an audio recording of the meeting with syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

During the 2024-25 school year, SU had more then $215 million in profit. It also sits on a $2.2 billion endowment.

SU had already begun cutting spending during the 2025-26 school year, Haynie told syracuse.com in December. This came from a combination of factors, including an increased need for financial aid, a drop in international students and shifting attitudes towards higher education.

After missing its enrollment target on May 1, 2025, SU began offering larger scholarships to students who did not choose SU, according to The New York Times.

“Despite receiving 46,000 applications to the university, we found ourselves on decision day, on deposit day, May 1, significantly under-enrolled,” Haynie said during the Newhouse meeting. “What students were telling us effectively was that they didn’t believe what we were offering was worth what we were asking them today.”

In an attempt to attract students, it lowered the cost to attend. Last year, SU budgeted for a 38.6% discount rate, the amount that is shaved off tuition in the form of grants, but ended up with a 45% rate instead, said Ryan Williams, Vice President for Enrollment Services, during a November University Senate meeting.

The class of 2029 will hold on to that discount rate all four years, meaning SU will see less profit from these students for years to come.

While SU holds a multi-billion endowment, Haynie told Newhouse faculty and staff that it’s not enough. The endowment amount per student is what matters. SU’s endowment cannot sustainably fund a 22,000 student university.

“While our aggregate, the $2.2 billion or whatever the number is, seems large. . . our endowment is way too small to cover our financial aid needs,” Haynie said.

A pause in visa interviews last summer prevented many international students from obtaining their student visas. As a result, hundreds fewer international students enrolled at SU in the fall than previous years.

International students tend to pay full price to attend, and a drop in international students caused SU to miss out on millions of dollars. In December, Haynie told syracuse.com that SU did not recover from the financial loss.

MORE BY EMALYN MUZZY

Syracuse school board looks to raise board president’s pay 8.6%Jun. 11, 2026, 5:55 p.m.

Syracuse University’s tax deal with the city is up for renewal: Is SU paying its fair share?Jun. 11, 2026, 6:19 a.m.

At the same time, a larger share of young adults are turning towards community college, trade school or directly entering the workforce instead of attending a four-year college.

SU is already focused on 2027 fall enrollment and Haynie plans to use “entrepreneurial recruitment strategies suited to these conditions” to attract more students next year.

“I will keep you informed as these initiatives advance,” Haynie said.

https://www.syracuse.com/syracuse-university/2026/06/syracuse-university-issues-financial-warning-as-admissions-slump-were-in-the-red.html

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5737880&forum_id=2)#49936614)

there used to be more tenured profs than administrators and other professionals combined, but today there are nearly as many "other professionals" as tenured profs.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Latanya-Brown-Robertson/publication/298712843/figure/fig4/AS:530667915812864@1503532498216/THE-GROWTH-OF-FACULTY-AND-ADMINISTRATORS.png

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5737880&forum_id=2)#49936860)

https://www.thecollegefix.com/umich-now-has-more-than-500-jobs-dedicated-to-dei-payroll-costs-exceed-30-million/

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5737880&forum_id=2)#49936874)