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Officials: SUNY schools need more aid or tuition increases
Kathleen Moore reports in the Times Union that New York's SUNY colleges will have a $1.1 billion annual deficit unless funding increases or costs fall. School officials want regular increases in aid or permission to increase tuition. State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. said in a report written with his staff that, “SUNY will fail to achieve operational sustainability,” unless steps are taken. Already, the SUNY Fredonia and Potsdam schools have made cuts. School officials say “modest, differential tuition increases.... could be readily managed through efficiencies, collaboration and other actions.” Last year, the state legislature gave the SUNY system $163 million in additional funding, but the state is also facing large deficits. Cuts are also in the future for SUNY schools. SUNY officials say they may not offer every typical major at every campus and majors with few students enrolled might be dropped. They are also likely to cut programs in the humanities, which saw the greatest loss in enrollment over the last 20 years. Read more about this story in the Times Union.