Why does SUNY New Paltz, a state school, need your support?
SUNY New Paltz’s operating budget comes from two sources, state support (22%) and tuition (78%). The operating budget includes salaries for faculty, administration, and support staff (with employee fringe benefits funded separately by the state, not out of the campus budget); modest scholarship recruitment funding for top performers; underwriting of student-centered programs such as the Center for Student Success, Scholars Mentorship Program, and the Sojourner Truth Library, to name a few; and support for the many programs that make New Paltz a special place.
Separately, state-issued bonds fund major construction and renovation initiatives via a separate budget. New York taxpayers pay the debt service on these bonds. Bonded monies also fund major dormitory construction and renovations, which are repaid by the students who live on campus via housing fees and not by taxpayers. Nevertheless, the need for additional space—both academic and residential— and for physical plant upgrades far exceed the funds available.
Yet the above resources are not interchangeable. Tuition cannot be used to build dorms, and bonds cannot be used to fund the operating budget. Furthermore, state funding for the operating budget is not expected to increase in the coming years.
This is why philanthropy matters.
Private donations provide scholarships that make a SUNY New Paltz education more accessible. And gifts from supporters like you allow us to grow our distinctive programs—programs that make us stand out from our competition.
Together, with your support, we can ensure that New Paltz flourishes far into the future.
