Some public universities have been hit, too; the universities of Washington and Illinois have lost around 25 percent, or $500 million and $370 million, respectively. However, public institutions rely less on endowments; at Illinois, for instance, the endowment kicks in less than 2 percent of the budget, compared to 44 percent at Yale.
Mount Holyoke, the Massachusetts women’s college, is one of many looking for more money for financial aid even as it has to save $5 million overall amid a fundraising slowdown. For now, most capital projects are on hold, except for energy-saving ones, said CFO Mary Jo Maydew.
It's one of those rare times when the poorer colleges — who balance their books mostly with tuition — can afford a small smirk.
"What we provide is paid for," said Joe Womack, vice president for advancement at William Jessup College, a small Christian college outside Sacramento, Calif. The school's $1.2 million nest egg is the second-smallest of the 791 endowments NACUBO ranked.
"I think we get out ahead of ourselves when endowments provide millions of dollars for us to get fat on," he said, adding it's "hard to trim that fat in higher education."
Colleges, he said, are learning the same lesson as everyone else: "You've got to live within your means."
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