New York’s School of Visual Arts Reports One-Third Drop in Enrollment Since 2019, Faces Largest Budget Deficit Ever
New York’s School of Visual Arts (SVA) reported that enrollment has fallen about 34% since 2019 and that it faces a $22 million structural budget deficit, described as the largest in its nearly 80-year history, according to a July 1 email from interim president Christopher J. Cyphers. SVA’s annual operating budget is about $200 million and it relies heavily on tuition, with full-time tuition set at $55,270 for the coming school year. Cyphers attributed the decline to the “demographic cliff” and to federal policy pressures affecting education, the arts, and international students; he became interim president on June 1 after David Rhodes, president since 1978, stepped down. The school has also undergone recent changes including faculty unionization (77% voted in May to join the United Auto Workers) and planned program closures, including ending its curatorial practice MFA in 2027.
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This story was covered in Closures, Cuts, and Culture Under Siege