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In some places, charitable giving is down while tuition is up. Universities are cutting academic programs, laying off faculty and staff and even limiting enrollment.
All this comes at a time when Americans need a larger college-educated work force to remain globally competitive. Like the U.S. banking and auto industries, education groups are calling for financial assistance from the government. How are the typically underfinanced historically Black colleges and universities, which award nearly one-third of all baccalaureate degrees to African-Americans, faring in these times? Better than expected, in some cases.
“I was surprised how the conservative nature of investing at HBCUs has actually protected them from the whiplash larger schools face from the downfall of exotic financial instruments like derivatives and hedge funds,” says Peter Galuszka, who wrote our cover story.
Despite the less-than-dramatic drop in their portfolios, many minority-serving institutions lack a significant endowment and have fewer places to turn for operating funds than their wealthier counterparts. So, the pressure is on to retrench.
Amid the painful impact of the budget-cutting decisions, higher education leaders — oversight boards, presidents and department chairs — need to keep their eyes on access and retention of minority students.
