Syracuse University raises tuition by nearly 4 percent for next academic year

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse University has announced a tuition increase of almost 4 percent for the 2020-21 academic year along with a 7 percent increase in student financial aid.

For the 2020-21 academic year, the cost of tuition for all full-time undergraduates will rise by 3.9 percent.

For those students admitted prior to the fall of 2018, the tuition totals $50,700. For those admitted in fall of 2018 and afterwards, the tuition totals $54,270, a figure that includes the previously announced premium. Only about one out of four Syracuse students pay the full tuition rate.

Room rates for most full-time returning undergraduates will increase by an average of 3.5 percent and meal-plan rates by an average 2 percent, depending on the housing and meal plans chosen.

At the same time. Syracuse University’s 2020-21 budget includes $300 million in student financial aid, which the school calls an “historic level.” The available funding represents a 7 percent increase over the previous fiscal year.

The announcement comes a few weeks after Syracuse University said the COVID-19 crisis cost it $35 million, necessitating salary cuts for senior university leaders and athletic leaders, as well as a staff salary freeze, spending cuts, and a hold on many capital projects.

Syracuse University recently received more than $9.9 million in stimulus funding from the federal government. The funding was authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Higher-education institutions are required to devote at least half of their awards toward emergency financial-aid grants to their students. Some are saying they will use all of their funding to help students.