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In the summer of 2020, Hunter Franklin heard that Syracuse University was going to raise tuition for the upcoming school year.

Despite the ongoing pandemic, the cost of tuition would rise 3.9% for the 2020-21 academic year, SU said in May of that year.

“It hit me like a ton of bricks,” said Franklin, who was going into his sophomore year as a dual major in the Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Franklin, along with fellow classmates, wrote a petition asking the university to suspend the tuition raise for the 2020-21 academic year. SU’s Student Association quickly supported the petition, which received over 7,000 signatures on Change.org by the end of May.

Although Franklin was allowed to express his concerns to university officials alongside then-SA president Justine Hastings, the petition largely fell on deaf ears, he said.

SU announced another tuition increase for the 2021-22 academic year in late March as part of an SU News release. 

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For the 2021-22 academic year, tuition will increase by 3% for all full-time undergraduates, the March release said. Tuition will total $52,240 for students admitted prior to fall 2018 and $55,920 for those admitted after that date. Room rates will increase by an average of 3.5% and meal plans will increase in price by an average of 3%, depending on the selections by the student.

“It definitely causes a lot of disillusionment for students who first came to Syracuse University being told that we were going to be part of one big orange family and the university was committed to making sure that the students were successful,” said Franklin, now a junior.

The release also mentioned a 7% expansion of SU’s financial aid commitment, making the $307 million budget the highest allocation for aid in the university’s history.

“On one hand, we can certainly commend the university for having a fairly unprecedented allocation towards financial aid. However, we could also condemn that they are still going with this runaway cost type,” said David Bruen, president of SA. 

Bruen said that he thought the university should be doing far more to alleviate the rising costs of getting an education that have been made worse in the past year, including offering better financial security services.

“That can be something as small as making the process of working with a financial aid officer that much easier, better communication and better use of technological services, but also hopefully seeing an even bigger increase in financial aid,” Bruen said.

Despite the increase in aid, SU’s decision to continually increase tuition costs during a pandemic has raised concern from members of the student body and leaders on campus alike.

SU declined to comment on the reasons behind the increase.

The tuition increase came at a time when SU is experiencing record numbers of applicants. 

Over 30,000 prospective students applied to SU for the 2021-22 academic year — a 24% increase from the previous year.

SU also declined to comment on where the extra tuition money will be allocated, or if they would be willing to work with student organizations to find solutions. Nevertheless, Bruen said he and SA plan to push for changes. 

“One of the things [SA] is talking about, which a lot of students have talked about and a lot of our peer institutions have done, is a tuition freeze to suspend any raise in tuition,” Bruen said. “Should have been done last year. Should have been done this year.”

Some of SU’s peer institutions, such as Marquette University and Ithaca College, decided against increasing the cost of tuition for the 2021-22 academic year in the face of economic hardship caused by the pandemic to their student body. 

As of April 20, SU reported losses of at least $35 million during the pandemic but was unable to use its $1.4 billion endowment fund to offset this lost revenue due to restrictions.

Franklin said students like him were above all concerned by the financial impact the increase would have on families, many of whom are struggling due to the pandemic.

“It’s very disturbing that the concentrations keep skyrocketing,” Franklin said. “And yet, the quality of education is declining, the quality of services is declining and families continue to be punished financially by this university.”

DISCLAIMER: Hunter Franklin is a staff photographer for The Daily Orange. He does not influence the editorial content of the News section in his capacity as a staff photographer.

Published on August 29, 2021 at 11:35 pm

Contact Richard: [email protected] | @richardperrins2