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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC just turned down Syracuse this cycle. It was in their top 3.

We loved it when we visited, and the business school was very impressive. Required kids to have internships to graduate, and kids were all doing a capstone presentation when we visited. Beautiful campus, although the city is run down.

But we absolutely could not justify the cost. Syracuse offered $20k merit originally and then another $5k off, but that still made it $72k/year and that was just for freshman year. Tuition has been going up $5k/year.

Notice I did not say we couldn’t pay the cost, we just didn’t find it to be worth it, relative to the other options.

DC’s older sibling is at an SEC school with a scholarship where the tuition is the same as our in state public. But DC didn’t want to go South.

DCs other options were between $40-55k all in. They are very happy to have saved $100-$150k, and they will likely have the same outcome after undergrad.

Curious, what were the other options? Please share.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC just turned down Syracuse this cycle. It was in their top 3.

We loved it when we visited, and the business school was very impressive. Required kids to have internships to graduate, and kids were all doing a capstone presentation when we visited. Beautiful campus, although the city is run down.

But we absolutely could not justify the cost. Syracuse offered $20k merit originally and then another $5k off, but that still made it $72k/year and that was just for freshman year. Tuition has been going up $5k/year.

Notice I did not say we couldn’t pay the cost, we just didn’t find it to be worth it, relative to the other options.

DC’s older sibling is at an SEC school with a scholarship where the tuition is the same as our in state public. But DC didn’t want to go South.

DCs other options were between $40-55k all in. They are very happy to have saved $100-$150k, and they will likely have the same outcome after undergrad.

Did they start offering merit aid at acceptance or was it more and more after the deposit deadline? I know many were upset that Syracuse was seemingly given out tons of aid. The problem in trying to "buy" these students at the end of the process is that there is a lot of ill will generated, not to mention the horrible image.

Looking back, you can see the panic that Syracuse is going through in trying to get enough students who actually want to attend the college. With a yield rate under 20% and an acceptance rate which is shooting up. Syracuse hasn't even published its 2024-2025 common data set. I wonder what its real acceptance rate is now? It is probably above 60%, if not higher. We have to speculate because Syracuse won't tell us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC just turned down Syracuse this cycle. It was in their top 3.

We loved it when we visited, and the business school was very impressive. Required kids to have internships to graduate, and kids were all doing a capstone presentation when we visited. Beautiful campus, although the city is run down.

But we absolutely could not justify the cost. Syracuse offered $20k merit originally and then another $5k off, but that still made it $72k/year and that was just for freshman year. Tuition has been going up $5k/year.

Notice I did not say we couldn’t pay the cost, we just didn’t find it to be worth it, relative to the other options.

DC’s older sibling is at an SEC school with a scholarship where the tuition is the same as our in state public. But DC didn’t want to go South.

DCs other options were between $40-55k all in. They are very happy to have saved $100-$150k, and they will likely have the same outcome after undergrad.

Did they start offering merit aid at acceptance or was it more and more after the deposit deadline? I know many were upset that Syracuse was seemingly given out tons of aid. The problem in trying to "buy" these students at the end of the process is that there is a lot of ill will generated, not to mention the horrible image.

Looking back, you can see the panic that Syracuse is going through in trying to get enough students who actually want to attend the college. With a yield rate under 20% and an acceptance rate which is shooting up. Syracuse hasn't even published its 2024-2025 common data set. I wonder what its real acceptance rate is now? It is probably above 60%, if not higher. We have to speculate because Syracuse won't tell us.

DC was also accepted into:

Loyola MD
JMU
Indiana (not Kelly)
South Carolina
Michigan State
UC Boulder
Pitt
Delaware
College of Charleston
UMass
Xavier

Originally Syracuse gave $15k off. Then, unasked, two weeks later gave another $5k. When we decided to visit and appealed in earnest and said, we need to get much lower to make it a real consideration, they gave another $5k. But that was it.

At no other school did we even have to deal with the financial aid office. That is Syracuse’s problem: its competitors are much, much cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fwiw, tons of kids from nyc suburbs go to Syracuse, have the best 4 years, and are very successful afterward. It’s a very common scenario! And it’s not just Newhouse. The education is good, the experience is good, they don’t mind the weather. I’m trying to think of what a similar private school 3 hours from the dc area would be. But yeah it’s the price. Some of those families can easily pay but the ones who can’t have cheaper state school options.

There are very few schools who are positioned like Syracuse-- mid-sized enrollment, moderately selective, longstanding top tier programs (Newhouse, Falk, Maxwell), large deeply loyal alumni base, winning athletic tradition, national brand, and strong school spirit. What are the comparable schools? SMU? There are a host of schools that come close but are more selective-Villanova, USC, BC, and Miami. Syracuse has a strong niche. There is no death spiral here

Yes, it's expensive but for a student who wants smaller class sizes and a relatively more intimate environment it may be worth the money.

I wrote the post you’re responding to and I totally agree with you. I really like Syracuse. My daughter applied and would have been happy there. She would not have been happy at most state schools. It’s a good fit for lots of kids!

State schools suck. I guess they're ok if you're broke. But they have decaying infrastructure, overcrowded everything, insufficient housing, huge classes, difficulty registering for classes, classes taught by TAs, and worst of all, you're surrounded by plebs. Syracuse offers a much superior experience to those who can afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Google tells me that Syracuse's discount rate is 45% -- that means (if I'm understanding correctly) that the average student pays only 55% of the 100Kish sticker price.

Wouldn't it be bold for Syracuse, or some other private, to slash cost of attendance, say, by 35%? I'm not sure how the math would math but I think a much lower initial sticker price would attract a lot of donut hole families/ make them competitive with the SEC schools. . . .

This. I would love to see more schools do this.

I think the issue is that incomes are very bimodal. A bunch of kids paying zero or close to it via financial aid and a bunch of kids paying very high rate to cover everything. There's also some merit on top of that-- I think they essentially try to figure out willingness-to-pay at charge whatever that is. That's why at some schools it's possible to negotiate financial aid.

So conceptually, I like this model. But I think the math doesn't math, as you say, because they still have the same # getting a full ride, and they don't have it compensated by the rich kids at the top who are price insensitive. But I suppose if enrollments go down far enough, the math might change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The recent flood of Northeast and Midwestern kids going to SEC schools has to be hurting Syracuse. Much better weather, sports, and 50-60% of the cost.

There’s not really evidence that there’s a flood

A quick google search:

https://toptieradmissions.com/the-rising-popularity-of-southern-colleges/

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/education-college/a68021804/southern-colleges-popularity-explained-2025/

https://www.universityherald.com/articles/79976/20251124/southern-universities-see-91-surge-northeast-students-fleeing-cold-football-greek-life.htm


Wherher you like it or not, teens and young adults' natural instinct is to have fun, enjoy life, try new things and not to be rigid, judgy, or puritanical.

The northeast colleges and small liberal arts colleges have overwhelmingly presented themselves as being no fun, filled with screaming protestors and virulent thought police where the crazy students who like to judge and censor people are everywhere, ruled by the stereotypical blue haired girl running around in a mask 5 years after covid craziness ended.

The southern and midwestern schools don't seem to have that puritanical culture, appear more welcoming to all kinds of people, and just look like a ton of fun, the way college is supposed to be and the kind of college we all went to pre 2019.

I wish the “no fun” woke SLACS didn’t have acceptance rates in the teens or less so my DC had a better shot. But ok.

[Anonymous]

Syracuse is ranked 75th by US News. To pay $90-100k is out of line. Looking at College of Charleston vs 4 years at Syracuse at a much lower cost would be easy choice for our kids.

[Anonymous]

as an upstate ny soon-to-be college parent, I can't imagine why we'd ever look at Syracuse, when high-quality Binghamton is there right down the road. Syracuse resides in a tough spot in the marketplace.

[Anonymous]

I think Syracuse is banking on being an acceptable place for rich but average students to go. And there might be a racial component to that imo. Similar to Elon, SLACs, Jesuit schools. However, these kids are being swayed to SECs and larger public schools. Part is cost, part is marketing, part is lack of differentiation. It’s too bad schools are feeling the squeeze with demographics and rising costs hitting at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Syracuse is a great school with many, many passionate alums. I bet they figure this out and come out of this stronger. It’s a sweet spot school in terms of size with strong academics, strong school spirit and a beautiful campus. Agree they need to do something about tuition.

Plus 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fwiw, tons of kids from nyc suburbs go to Syracuse, have the best 4 years, and are very successful afterward. It’s a very common scenario! And it’s not just Newhouse. The education is good, the experience is good, they don’t mind the weather. I’m trying to think of what a similar private school 3 hours from the dc area would be. But yeah it’s the price. Some of those families can easily pay but the ones who can’t have cheaper state school options.

There are very few schools who are positioned like Syracuse-- mid-sized enrollment, moderately selective, longstanding top tier programs (Newhouse, Falk, Maxwell), large deeply loyal alumni base, winning athletic tradition, national brand, and strong school spirit. What are the comparable schools? SMU? There are a host of schools that come close but are more selective-Villanova, USC, BC, and Miami. Syracuse has a strong niche. There is no death spiral here

Yes, it's expensive but for a student who wants smaller class sizes and a relatively more intimate environment it may be worth the money.

I wrote the post you’re responding to and I totally agree with you. I really like Syracuse. My daughter applied and would have been happy there. She would not have been happy at most state schools. It’s a good fit for lots of kids!

State schools suck. I guess they're ok if you're broke. But they have decaying infrastructure, overcrowded everything, insufficient housing, huge classes, difficulty registering for classes, classes taught by TAs, and worst of all, you're surrounded by plebs. Syracuse offers a much superior experience to those who can afford it.

Agree

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Syracuse's president 15-20 years ago revamped what type of student they wanted. They went all in on URM and lower SES students and lowered the admission standards. There was uproar about it back then its effects are still being felt today.

Its location in Syracuse doesn't help. There's no way you can convince me that if BC, BU, Northeastern, Tufts, etc. wasn't in or near Boston that they would have the same selectivity or reputation that they enjoy today.

Alum here. The city of Boston is obviously far more appealing than the city of Syracuse. Syracuse University is a bubble. It is a campus-driven school with tons of reasons to WANT to stay on campus, where the action is (Greek, M. Street, sports, beautiful, big, self-contained campus.) All of these reasons are why Syracuse was by far my first choice school, and it exceeded my expectations (40 years ago.) In other words, some people want "cool" city schools, others want the "traditional" college experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:as an upstate ny soon-to-be college parent, I can't imagine why we'd ever look at Syracuse, when high-quality Binghamton is there right down the road. Syracuse resides in a tough spot in the marketplace.

Binghamton is a drug-riddled, poor, depressing city

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fwiw, tons of kids from nyc suburbs go to Syracuse, have the best 4 years, and are very successful afterward. It’s a very common scenario! And it’s not just Newhouse. The education is good, the experience is good, they don’t mind the weather. I’m trying to think of what a similar private school 3 hours from the dc area would be. But yeah it’s the price. Some of those families can easily pay but the ones who can’t have cheaper state school options.

There are very few schools who are positioned like Syracuse-- mid-sized enrollment, moderately selective, longstanding top tier programs (Newhouse, Falk, Maxwell), large deeply loyal alumni base, winning athletic tradition, national brand, and strong school spirit. What are the comparable schools? SMU? There are a host of schools that come close but are more selective-Villanova, USC, BC, and Miami. Syracuse has a strong niche. There is no death spiral here

Yes, it's expensive but for a student who wants smaller class sizes and a relatively more intimate environment it may be worth the money.

I wrote the post you’re responding to and I totally agree with you. I really like Syracuse. My daughter applied and would have been happy there. She would not have been happy at most state schools. It’s a good fit for lots of kids!

State schools suck. I guess they're ok if you're broke. But they have decaying infrastructure, overcrowded everything, insufficient housing, huge classes, difficulty registering for classes, classes taught by TAs, and worst of all, you're surrounded by plebs. Syracuse offers a much superior experience to those who can afford it.

This just isn't true.

[Anonymous]

Just coming here to say Syracuse turned my agency down to help them with advertising....big mistake!