Union Faces Economic Challenges

Benjamin Engle

While Union College lies 166 miles north of the New York Stock Exchange, the problems affecting the global markets have reached Union’s administration. The economic crisis currently affecting the United States and countries around the world has pushed Union to take a closer at the financial status of its students and of the institution overall.

Like most major corporations and businesses, Colleges across the United States have been forced to monitor their assets and budgets. Some schools, in order to save money, have instituted spending freezes to ensure that they do not exceed their already tight budgets and tuition freezes to ensure that students can continue to afford their education.

In response to the recent troubles and uncertainty of the economy, President Stephen C. Ainlay shared his views on the situation through an e-mail sent to faculty and staff members indicating how the economy is affecting Union.

“Union College is by no means isolated from the effects of the economic downturn,” Ainlay wrote. “All of us are personally affected and it would be irresponsible of us if we didn’t anticipate the potential affects on our institutional operations.”

Through his letter, Ainlay explained that Union’s Financial and Administration staff will monitor the affects of the endowment and the Board of Trustees Executive Committee is analyzing the College’s weak financial points.

As the Concordiensis went to press, the Finance and Administration staff failed to return multiple requests for interviews, however, President Ainlay made it clear in his letter that Union’s finances are strong.

“Our endowment has performed better than most [and] we did not have any investments in the Common Fund (which has caused problems for other institutions),” Ainlay stated.

In addition to the College’s financial outlook, Union’s Financial Aid office is actively going though “what if” scenarios to ensure that it can properly provide financial assistance to eligible students.

“Both the Finance and Financial Aid Offices are assessing the current economic situation and how that may impact our students. We are prepared to continue to help students and families in the event they are feeling the effects of the downturn in the economy. Despite the recent increase in unemployment, we have not experienced a corresponding increase in additional aid requests from families thus far” said Linda Parker, the Director of Financial Aid.

Parker believes that while the increasing percentage of those unemployed will affect Union families, the Financial Aid Department hasn’t seen an increase in the number of families requesting additional financial aid.

“We will continue to make Union an affordable place for students to learn,” Parker said.

However, even if the college’s endowment decreases or budget cuts occur, Parker is confident that Union will not reduce the amount of financial aid offered to eligible students.

“We will continue to meet the demonstrated financial need of our students, but in light of the expected increase in unemployment combined with losses that families have sustained in the stock market, going forward we realize it may not be business as usual, and we are actively preparing for those possible scenarios,” added Parker.
Currently, over half of the students at Union receive financial assistance. The average Union scholarship, according to the Financial Aid office, is approximately $20,800 and is determined through various applications. With the economic problems affecting the entire nation and forefront in the news, Parker expects an increase in financial aid applications next year. Applications for financial aid for new students are due February 1st while returning students must apply by April 15th.
With the economy not getting better anytime soon, Union is investigating how to deal with the financial crunch in the future, nonetheless, President Ainlay is anticipating financial problems.

“At the institutional level, there is no doubt that we will face some financial challenges, Ainlay wrote. “Union remains strong…We will continue to move ahead and make a difference.”

Originally published in Union's Concordy on October 30, 2008.