Comptroller audit finds SUNY schools did not follow residency requirements

ALBANY, N.Y. — A recent survey found that seven State University of New York (SUNY) campuses, including ones in Binghamton and Syracuse, did not uphold in-state residency requirements so that only eligible students received the benefit of the lower in-state tuition, according to New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

SUNY is the nation’s largest public-education system with 375,000 students at 64 institutions. Undergraduate tuition for New York residents averages just under $7,100 for the 2021-2022 school year while tuition for resident graduate students averages $11,300. For out-of-state students, tuition averages nearly $17,000 for undergraduate students and $23,100 for graduate students.

“SUNY is enabling graduate students from out-of-state to take advantage of a tuition benefit that is supposed to be reserved for New Yorkers,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “SUNY’s medical schools and other graduate programs are highly competitive and represent an excellent value, regardless of residency status. SUNY administrators and staff need to ensure that tuition is charged correctly for both in-state and out-of-state students.”

The report found that seven SUNY campuses could not provide proper residency documentation to support the residency status of graduate student tuition assessments. Four campuses — Buffalo, Binghamton, Geneseo, and Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) — accounted for 98 percent of the questionable assessments. In total, the SUNY schools could not provide documentation to support the residency status of 421 out of 1,207 students assessed, representing a potential undercharge of $1.34 million and a potential overcharge of $44,171.

Binghamton University, with a graduate enrollment of 31,145 students, could not support the residency status of 118 out of 265 students assessed, potentially undercharging for tuition by $347,021, per the comptroller’s office.

SUNY ESF in Syracuse, with 3,578 graduate students, could not support the residency status of 103 out of 264 students assessed. ESF potentially undercharged tuition by $276,099.

In 57 percent of cases, the only documentation the schools had were graduate applications, where students self-report their residency information. Three of the seven campuses — SUNY Downstate, Empire State College, and Plattsburgh — did not maintain any documentation for the students assessed for the survey.

In about a quarter of the assessments, documentation provided was inadequate to support state-residency status for a variety of reasons including using unofficial or incomplete high-school transcripts with graduate applications or using only a single document rather than the required three to prove residency.

DiNapoli recommended to SUNY administration that it provide guidance and support to campus officials to interpret and implement the residency policy to ensure correct tuition charges and that campuses maintain all residency documents for at least six years after the student leaves the campus.

SUNY response

“SUNY campuses are committed to providing the most accessible and affordable high-quality education — we are the largest comprehensive public higher education designed to do that, and we are continually identifying best practices to implement in support of our students,” Holly Liapis, SUNY press secretary, said in an emailed statement responding to the comptroller’s report. “As part of SUNY’s noble mission, campuses work to ensure every student knows every possible form of financial assistance eligible to them. While the Office of the New York State Comptroller’s review of some graduate programs does not identify any specific noncompliance, we will continue to provide oversights and make changes as needed.”