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Chancellor Kent Syverud presented a “grim” financial outlook across higher education and detailed changes affecting Syracuse University at the University Senate’s first meeting of the 2025-26 academic year.

Syverud discussed challenges impacting higher education, including broad funding cuts and dropping enrollment trends. He also talked about SU’s finances and enrollment figures for the year ahead, his final one as chancellor.

He spoke for about 20 minutes, exceeding his scheduled 10-minute slot.

Wednesday’s address marks the first time Syverud has addressed the senate as a soon-to-be outgoing chancellor. On Aug. 26, he announced that he will leave his role as chancellor at the end of this school year.

“It has been a brutal year for shared governance at schools in the United States, and that warns us that leadership at Syracuse means that we need to make it visibly work this year here and show it can work,” he said.

With the chancellor search underway, Syverud said he would recuse himself from any senate discussions about his successor.

Over his 20-minute address, Syverud discussed ongoing shifts to university enrollment figures, SU’s finances and the broader state of play for higher education.

University enrollment

Syverud provided updates to the university’s enrollment figures. Most notably, he said the percentage of international enrollment in the “undergraduate entering class” decreased to 5%.

Two years ago, that figure was 12%, he said.

The decline in international students studying in the U.S. also impacted master’s enrollment numbers. The university is about 41 students below its goal for master’s students, he said. Both are mostly due to international students, “especially from China,” having trouble getting visas to study in the U.S.

He said that it is “unlikely to change” in the near future.

President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to limit the number of international students entering the U.S., particularly students from China. In April, the administration revoked the visas of three international students, which were later reinstated. Over the summer, SU’s Center for International Services lost just over a third of its key staff.

For the fifth consecutive year, SU has had a “record” undergraduate application, with 47,169 applicants, Syverud said. The university has around a 21,820-person student body, according to preliminary data he cited.

A fall census will be published later this month, Syverud said.

Traditionally measured enrollment fell by about 3.5% this year, “driven largely by declines in international enrollment and master’s numbers,” Syverud said. Undergraduate enrollment exceeded goals, and doctoral numbers are also “on track.”

This year’s undergraduate freshman class includes 3,945 students, 195 over goal, Syverud said.

SU also added 68 new full-time faculty and 83 new part-time faculty this fall, which Syverud said is “pretty unique” compared to other universities today.

University finances

“I know a lot of you are following closely the financial news coming from across higher education, and it’s grim,” Syverud said.

He said many of SU’s peer institutions are running “very serious deficits,” and are experiencing mass layoffs or federal funding cuts. The Trump administration has targeted federal funding and grants for colleges across the U.S., including Harvard University and Columbia University.

“That’s not the story here, although it’s not a happy story entirely here, either,” Syverud said. “It would be hubris to say that we’re doing better than them because we’re smarter than them. What’s important to understand is we are, at the moment, so far, as a whole, weathering storms pretty well here.”

Syverud said some of SU’s schools and colleges are facing more challenges than others, and more challenges than in previous years. He said the university’s current financial position will allow it to be “proactive” in enacting changes over the next year.

“I recognize that some of our deans are navigating difficult financial realities, and that just underscores why we have been making and are continuing to make tough choices to shore up our financial position,” Syverud said.

The chancellor said that SU’s finances are in a better position than many other R1 research institutions. The university closed fiscal year 2025 with a $2.9 million surplus in its operating budget, around 0.16% of the overall $1.9 billion budget. For fiscal year 2026, the university anticipates a $100,000 surplus, he said.

“It was extremely difficult to get to a balanced budget in fiscal year 25, and it will be more difficult to keep it balanced in fiscal year 26,” Syverud said. “Very, very few R1 universities are running a genuinely balanced operating budget this year.”

Syverud said the “volatility” in higher education is higher than in previous years, and the university needs to be “alert and nimble” in response. He used that to justify some of the university’s ongoing curricula changes and the dean-led review of every college’s portfolio, a matter that came up multiple times in the meeting.

As of July 1, the university’s endowment reached $2.266 billion, growing by over 9% over the previous year, he said. The Trump administration has targeted universities with large endowments like Harvard and the University of Notre Dame.

The endowment tax, a 1.4% tax on schools that spend more than $750,000 of the endowment per student, was included in the sweeping Republican bill passed on July 4.

“We worried a lot about federal laws, government endowments and particularly taxation endowments; we watched that closely,” Syverud said. “But the so-called ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ does not apply to Syracuse, and it doesn’t in this area, because our endowment per student remains below the threshold.”

Given the financial pressures on higher education, Syverud said fundraising remains a goal. The chancellor said the university’s financial aid initiative has been “going well.” The Syracuse Promise effort has already created 14 new scholarships and strengthened existing scholarship funds, he said.

Current environment

“Since October of 2023, when the world really did change in dramatic ways, our approach at this university has been to try to meet three necessary conditions for Syracuse University to thrive,” Syverud said as he closed out his remarks.

He said the three conditions were upholding SU’s “longstanding values,” safety for all and compliance with the law — including Title VI, the First Amendment and due process. Last year, the university released the Syracuse Statement, which highlights several commitments related to student and faculty free speech.

“I recognize that it’s gotten harder each month since October 2023 to meet all three of these conditions, to walk that tightrope,” Syverud said. “Many of you have made sacrifices to determine the right individual steps to keep this place safe, lawful and consistent with our values.”

Syverud said he was asked about academic budgets, portfolio reviews, diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility and the Renée Crown University Honors Program at a recent Academic Affairs Committee meeting, and encouraged the committee to “keep focused on academic freedom and free speech issues.”

After two full five-year terms and an additional extension, Syverud said he felt the time was right to depart his role as chancellor. He said he will continue teaching courses at SU after his chancellorship.

“I love this university, I believe it is in reasonably good shape to select and recruit a new chancellor,” he said.

Syverud encouraged a focus on shared governance and participation in the search for his successor and ahead of what he called “a really important year for Syracuse University” that leaves “a lot to accomplish.”

Published on September 18, 2025 at 1:37 am
Contact Griffin: gbrown19@syr.edu