[INTRO: College tuition is getting attention from Congress. The Senate Finance Committee has asked 136 colleges and universities to explain their endowment spending and financial aid. Syracuse University was on that list and Democracywise reporter Beth Croughan tells us just how much money SU is spending on financial aid.]
Syracuse University is one of the wealthiest universities in the country, with an endowment of nearly 1.1 billion dollars. The university was asked to respond to a Senate investigation about its spending from that endowment. Congress is looking to decide if universities should be required to spend a certain percent of endowment on financial aid every year.
Senators say they want to make sure higher education is affordable for middle and low-income students. SU’s response to the Senate outlined the programs and funding available to help its students afford the tuition costs of 31,000 dollars a year — a price tag that’s been going up every year. Ten years ago, tuition was just under 19,000 dollars. Kevin Quinn is the vice president of public affairs at SU and he says one of the university’s biggest priorities is to make sure tuition is affordable.
[“We think we have a great story to tell — both on how we use our endowment and the overall amount of financial aid that we provide to our students.” Kevin Quinn, vice president of public affairs at Syracuse University]
Now, SU has just over 19,000 students enrolled. In its report to the Senate, the university said that two-thirds of S-U students get financial aid. The university provides 135 million dollars in financial aid to them. That’s approximately 12 percent of its endowment.
The university says its contributions to financial aid are larger than some wealthier private schools. Cornell University, for example, has an endowment of 5.4 billion dollars. According to Cornell’s response to the Senate, it provides just under 110 million dollars in grant aid. But, the response also notes that Cornell is looking to increase financial aid by 225 million dollars. SU has launched a similar campaign.
[“In fact, we’re in the middle of a capital fundraising campaign — the most aggressive campaign the university’s ever undertaken. And we set a minum goal of raising 200 million dollars to the long-term student financial aid.” Kevin Quinn, Syracuse University vice president of public affairs]
And Kevin Quinn of Syracuse University says SU tries to direct donations towards student aid.
[“Donors have a wide range of flexibility. And we do encourage donors to seriously consider student financial aid. That’s one of the main goals of our campaign.” Kevin Quinn, Syracuse University vice president of public affairs]
An aide to Max Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, says so far 70 universities have responded to the request. he aide also noted that the Senate has not proposed a bill to regulate how universities spend their endowments. For Democracywise, I’m Beth Croughan.
[Beth Croughan is a junior broadcast journalism and political science major at Syracuse University.]
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