After weeks of speculation about SUNY Fredonia’s financial deficit and what it might mean for the school, Fredonia President Stephan H. Kolison Jr. on Wednesday presented a “road map for the future” – including discontinuing 13 low-performing degree programs that currently serve just 74 students.
Kolison, who came aboard as Fredonia president three years ago, said the university has operated with a structural deficit for longer than a decade and is working closely with SUNY and its governance partners on a plan to “right the ship.”
This year, it used “one-time monies” and $2.4 million in additional state funding to reduce a $17 million deficit to a current $10 million shortfall, he said.
“In short, our base expenditures simply far outweigh our revenues,” he added. “This is not sustainable.”
Fredonia is among several smaller SUNY schools with years-long structural deficits, meaning their expenses greatly exceed their revenue. Kolison said Fredonia is a victim of demographic changes that hit many small colleges sooner than they have reacted.
Read the full article here