In fiscal year 2019-2020, college added $419.4 million in income to Central New York economy
By Steve Yablonski
SUNY Oswego remains one of the largest economic drivers in Central New York. It also continues to flourish in its national rankings, most notably in a range of recognition for its online master of business administration rankings.
“Fiscal year 2020-21 proved to be a unique year in the history of SUNY Oswego,” the college’s Officer-in-Charge Mary Toale said. “Continued response and mitigation of the COVID-19 pandemic was forefront on everyone’s minds, but the SUNY Oswego campus community never wavered in serving our partners and internal and external communities.”
In addition to managing a $195 million operational budget, “our resourcefulness in deploying planned and prudent fiscal strategies was key to our ability to preserve the core mission of the institution and service to our students,” added Victoria Furlong, vice president for administration and finance.
$419.4 million economic impact
“SUNY Oswego creates a significant positive impact on the business community and generates a return on investment to its major stakeholders: students, taxpayers and the greater society,” said Scott Furlong, provost and vice president for academic affairs.
In fiscal year 2019-2020, SUNY Oswego added $419.4 million in income to the Central New York regional economy.
The college’s total economic impact also supported 5,541 jobs.
According to a recent economic impact analysis, for every dollar invested in SUNY Oswego, taxpayers will receive $2.80 in return, over the course of students’ working lives; and society will receive $9.20 in added income and social savings, he noted.
Endowment at the college has also experienced record-setting growth.
“SUNY Oswego’s exceptional endowment [investment] performance over nearly two decades reinforces to our donors that charitable giving to SUNY Oswego is a smart investment—with returns that have the capability to change the course of society’s future through the contributions of our graduates in communities around the state, the nation and the world,” said Mary Gibbons Canale, vice president for development and alumni engagement.
For the first time in its history, the Oswego College Foundation recorded a 27.8% return on its endowment investments, she added.
“These returns, combined with our phenomenal fundraising results over the past year, resulted in the college endowment reaching a record high $56.7 million as of June 30, 2021,” Canale said. “Even more impressive, at the close of the 2021 calendar year (as of Dec. 31, 2021), SUNY Oswego’s endowment reached an all-time high of $62.3 million.”
Notable rankings
In rankings released on Jan. 25, SUNY Oswego’s online master of business administration program continues to rank top among public institutions in the state by U.S. News and World Report.
A new honor for SUNY Oswego was ranking as the top institution in New York state in MBA programs for veterans, tied for 38th overall. For the overall online MBA 2022 rankings, Oswego tied for 56th, which represented a rise of six places from the previous year.
That ranking follows close on the heels of Oswego earning high honors in the Princeton Review including SUNY Oswego among its top 50 online MBA programs for 2022, the highest-ranked public institution in New York on that list, as well as best business schools for 2022: on-campus MBA programs. Oswego ranked highest among New York state public institutions and 41st nationally in Princeton Review, making it one of the best values in the list.
In another measure of quality and commitment, SUNY Oswego was named one of 15 institutions recently selected by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities to participate in the newly launched Transformation Accelerator Cohort. The program, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is designed to support cohorts of equity driven AASCU institutions who are passionate about closing equity gaps and creating opportunities for the success of Black, Latinx, Indigenous and low-income students.
Its core concept is that recognizing and addressing structural equality is the only way to ensure that all students who deserve an opportunity can succeed. The project unfolds in five-steps and runs through summer 2023.
“Many efforts paved the way for this honor … for SUNY Oswego to be included in this far-reaching project,” said Scott Furlong. “But we know that as an institution and a society, we still have a way to go. The TAC provides a road map and timeline to make an impact in a deep and lasting way, to move from transitional change to transformational change.”
