COLIN PERRY
Staff Writer
Last week, Fredonia released its annual Consolidated Operating Budget, providing the definitive word on the university’s financial situation for the coming year in the face of a number of ongoing struggles.
The document, produced by the division of Finance and Administration, details the predicted costs and expenditures for the college and each of its departments. In total, the budget reaches over $107 million, a decrease from last year’s by about $4 million. According to the document, this drop is the first time in a decade that the budget has actually been lower than it was in the year previous.
Included in the budget are key figures on some of the things Fredonia students find themselves most concerned with. With rises in tuition, residence hall rates and certain student program charges, among other things, the overall projected cost of college at Fredonia has risen to $20,424, a 4.41 percent (or a little over $850) increase from last year.
Milton Pauta, a sophomore computer science major, said that these increases concerned him.
“My family’s financial status isn’t that great, so the fact that [rates] went up disappoints me,” he said.
Many students agree that the university is put in a difficult position when it comes to matters like these.
“I don’t fault the university,” said Jacob Patterson, a freshman music education major. “I fault the people that don’t choose to come to Fredonia because it is a good school, but that’s their decision.”
On the other hand, people everywhere might be surprised to find out from the budget that Fredonia only receives 12.41 percent of its revenues from direct state aid. Over a third of its income comes from university revenues, while almost a fourth is derived from the combined operations of the FSA and the residence halls. Pauta called that figure “shocking,” and freshman biology major Elise Lukasiewicz was surprised by it.
“I would have thought as a state school that it’d be getting more funding,” said Lukasiewicz. “The fact that it’s not is a little worrisome.”
Throughout the budget, references are made to many of the difficulties the university has been forced to endure. One page refers to SUNY budgets as “extremely tight,” going on to say that “with recent-enrollment declines, and without the state funding for mandated increases, the budget situation at Fredonia is of great concern. The campus will need help from the state and SUNY to maintain quality and get through these difficult times.”
Along those lines, looming over the financial outlook of Fredonia is the dropping enrollment crisis. This year’s budget was built around the estimate of 5,100 full-time equivalent students, while in reality the student population in its entirety measures only 4,845.
Vice President for Finance and Administration Elizabeth Praetorius is hoping to close and reverse that gap in order to reach a better financial situation.
“We as a campus have been working actively on recruitment and bringing in additional enrollment, and that’s the key,” she said. “There are a lot of factors that we can’t control, but we can continue to do more [about enrollment] and be smart in what we’re doing,” adding that she was “really impressed by Fredonia on all divisions” in attempting to raise enrollment rates.
Despite the sometimes grim forecast for Fredonia’s future, it’s possible for students to come and go without ever realizing that the college faces these problems. Patterson didn’t feel the university was in a crisis, noting the numerous construction projects around campus as a sign of progress.
Praetorius said that it’s an administrator’s job to make sure students feel the same as Patterson, and “to make sure you have no impact, that while you’re here as a student you have a quality education … and everything you’d expect in a well-rounded experience.”
Students who wish to read the annual Consolidated Operating Budget can find it at www.fredonia.edu/admin/budget.