How WNY higher ed seeks to recover from Covid-19 hit

SUNY Buffalo State College is another story. The SUNY system’s only four-year urban campus saw its enrollment plunge from 9,118 in 2018 to 6,441 this year – nearly a 30% drop that’s further straining the school’s weakening financial health.

What’s going on? Now that in-person learning is back, colleges and universities are assessing their Fall 2022 enrollments and addressing the outlook.

Nationally, higher education enrollments are down 4.2% post-pandemic, as reported by Marketplace and U.S. News & World Report, with community colleges and smaller public institutions taking the brunt of the hit. Large, well-endowed and/or top-tier universities, on the other hand, appear to be on the rebound.

A look at how Western New York schools are faring supports that trend, with some exceptions.

UB – Buffalo Niagara’s flagship university – is holding its own and growing slowly. Small, private schools – of which Western New York has an abundance – were already seeing enrollment drop pre-Covid-19. Those that took steps to improve it are doing better than others. The region’s community colleges are struggling.

Western New York’s eight counties have 21 colleges and universities competing for a shrinking number of students. Covid-19 forced them to hone online programs that are not going away, but also resulted in high school students experiencing learning gaps that make getting into college – and staying there – more of a hurdle.

Demographics are working against colleges, too. Population forecasts have the number of traditional college students – 18-year-olds from privileged backgrounds – falling off a cliff in 2025. That means schools need to look to other demographics that have not been the usual recruitment targets.

Colleges and universities say they need to woo more returning and non-traditional students, new Americans and first-generation students, as well as online and international students.

Many schools, especially community colleges, are devising new programs to serve workforce needs of the region’s industries, which include offering shorter-term certifications, rather than four-year degrees in some fields.

“One thing that’s important is that we think differently about who our students are,” Canisius College President Steve K. Stoute said.

“How do we support the 39 million adults in the United States with some college credit and no credential – and I believe that number is 2 million in New York state alone,” he said. “How do we help our business and community leaders solve their workforce development challenges? These are the opportunities that lie ahead.”

The colleges suffering most from pandemic enrollment drops are those serving the most vulnerable students. Buffalo State and community colleges were already struggling pre-pandemic, and Covid-19 greatly exacerbated that.

Buffalo State President Katherine Conway-Turner said her school’s role as the only four-year state school in Buffalo makes it a key entry point to higher education for lower-income and first-generation college students, who face more obstacles to college. She said 60% of Buffalo State students come from underrepresented populations.

“The post-pandemic challenge continues to be very present on our campus, which is the most diverse campus in Western New York,” said Conway-Turner, who is slated to retire at the end of the current academic year. “We serve a population that was hit really hard, so it shouldn’t be a surprise.”

Rebuilding enrollment will take time and greater efforts to provide more academic and financial support to help those students succeed, she said.

She pointed to the Buffalo State Foundation’s new GRIT Scholarship, a merit scholarship based not on GPA, but on a student’s demonstrated “Guts, Resilience, Impact and Tenacity.” Any faculty member or advisor can nominate a student for financial support and other assistance.

“We have been involved with many, many conversations with donors who have been generous in helping us start new scholarships like GRIT,” Conway-Turner said. “We also have developed emergency funds for students because sometimes one thing happens that can derail you. So providing support to our students at a greater level is very much a part of our mission.”

Buffalo State is also expanding athletics, including implementing new programs in women’s wrestling, men’s volleyball and gymnastics, and saw a 30% increase in student athletes from last year to this year, Conway-Turner said.

The college has been working more closely with SUNY Erie Community College to transition students from ECC to Buffalo State, she said.

As the most affordable first step to higher education, community colleges also serve a more vulnerable population, and many have seen enrollment plummet in recent years.

At ECC, years of declining enrollment and financial woes took a toll well before Covid-19. The situation led new ECC President David Balkin to cut more than 150 positions through retirement incentives and layoffs within four months after he took office in February.