New York touted its free college tuition program as a first-of-its-kind plan that would eliminate the burden of student loans. But the zero-dollar price tag came at a cost: It tore a hole in the finances of Clarkson University, an upstate private college of more than 4,300 students.
In 2017, right as high-school seniors were preparing to declare where they’d enroll in the fall, New York officials said they would eliminate tuition for thousands of students at the state’s public universities. More than 100 prospective students changed their minds to instead enroll in public schools, according to Clarkson estimates.
“The timing was really tough,” said Anthony Collins, president of the university, which is located near the Canadian border. The shift deprived the college of $47,950 in tuition and fees those students each would have paid in the 2017-18 school year. “For four years, it creates a financial strain.”