Column declared inaccurate, irresponsible

I am writing to correct numerous inaccuracies contained within Wednesday’s column regarding tuition and admission standards.

First, the median SAT score for incoming SU freshmen was misreported. The column identified this number as 1070 when it is 1160 for the fall 2012 class and has been close to that number for a decade. It’s difficult to understand why the author relied on an obscure study by the University of Miami when the correct information is widely available through more authoritative outlets including SU’s Office of Institutional Research, IPEDS and U.S. News & World Report.

Second, the column included several inflated figures. SU’s acceptance rate was 49 percent two years ago, 51 percent last year (not 60 percent, as reported), and is actually on track to drop several points with this year’s incoming class. Also, the rate in the early 2000s was significantly higher than the 50 percent reported in the column. Annual institutional aid was also misreported, although closer to the actual expenditures. The university awarded $206 million in 2011-2012, not $209.8 million reported. It’s important to note that the university’s commitment to providing financial aid to support its undergraduate students is a strength, not a weakness. Our financial aid policies have improved to reduce unmet need, help students manage their debt and help build a socioeconomic diversity that is the envy of our peers. You can read more about this in my conversation with Daily Orange reporter Dara McBride in last Thursday’s “Melting Pot” piece.

Third, the author noted, “Tuition rates climbed 5 percent from the 2010-11 academic year to the 2011-12 academic year.” But this referred to the national average, and the author failed to provide the crucial context that Syracuse University’s tuition only rose 3.8 percent that year.

Of all the errors, only one seemed attributable to confusion: a reference to the cost of attendance as tuition. The two figures are not the same. Cost of attendance is the estimated total amount that it costs for a person to attend Syracuse University, and is inclusive of tuition, housing and meals, and miscellaneous fees. And while both numbers have risen along with the costs of running the university, the comparison of COA and tuition creates an artificially inflated sense of real increases.

Despite the misguided suppositions riddling Mr. Saffren’s column, his overarching concerns regarding inflation and rising debt are timely and valid. It was in response to these crises that Syracuse University developed “I Otto Know This,” a multipronged program aiming to reduce private loan debt and teach students lifelong fiscal health strategies. Now in its fourth year, the program has been well-received by students and families, and has become a model for many financial aid offices across the nation.

Don Saleh, Vice President for Enrollment Management