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SUNY Ulster outlines budget with enrollment gains, plans 13 hires and tuition changes
Summary
SUNY Ulster presented its tentative 2025–26 budget to the Ulster County Legislature, reporting enrollment growth, a plan to hire 13 positions and a projected $487,000 operating deficit; county support is proposed to remain at the current maintenance-of-effort level.
SUNY Ulster President Allison Buckley presented the college’s tentative 2025–26 budget at a public hearing before the Ulster County Legislature on May 20, saying enrollment has risen and the college is preparing to add staff to meet demand.
Buckley told legislators that enrollment at SUNY Ulster is up 6.3% fall over fall and another 7.4% this spring and that the college plans to hire 13 new positions, including five full-time faculty. “This is going to open doors for working adults and families across the county and SUNY Ulster is ready,” she said.
The presentation said tuition was revised downward since an earlier committee briefing: the proposed increase was reduced to $200 per year from an earlier $328 figure. Buckley said the college’s projected revenues will rise to about $26 million, with tuition increases and enrollment growth accounting for roughly $759,000 of that gain. She also said the college will receive an additional $108,000 in state-directed grant funding that will be recorded in the restricted budget.
The budget presentation listed expenses that push the operating projection into a deficit. Buckley said salaries will rise ‘just over $1,000,000’ mainly from the 13 new positions, and benefits are expected to fall by $320,000 due to stable insurance rates. The college projects a $487,000 budget deficit for the coming fiscal year; Buckley said the college ended the prior year with a rainy-day balance of about $7.4 million and expects a remaining balance available for appropriation of just over $1 million after accounting for projected deficits.
Debbie Briggs, chair of the SUNY Ulster Board of Trustees, addressed the Legislature during the public comment portion and thanked county officials for continued support. “Community colleges are often referred to as the people’s colleges, and rightly so. We are institutions built on access, opportunity, and transformation,” Briggs said, noting as a point of pride that 100% of SUNY Ulster nursing students passed the NCLEX-RN licensing exam this year.
The Legislature closed the public hearing without amendments. No formal action on the college’s budget occurred at the meeting; the hearing was informational and the county’s budget process will consider the college request alongside other departmental submissions.
