College endowment losses

It isn’t just the rank and file who are hurting in the economic downturn. Some of the bluest of bluebloods are feeling the pinch as well.

Harvard? Yale? Those staid institutions of higher learning are recession-proof, aren’t they?

Hardly. While no one appears to be on the verge of going out of business, America’s five best-endowed universities are having to rethink budgets and get by with less.

Here’s the rundown, with endowment as of June 30, 2008, and estimated loss since:

1. Harvard: $36.6 billion. Estimated loss: 30 percent.

2. Yale: $22.9 billion. Estimated loss: 25 percent. 

3. Stanford: $17.2 billion. Estimated loss: 20 to 30 percent.

4. Princeton: $16.3 billion. Estimated loss: 25 percent.

5. University of Texas System: $16.1 billion. Estimated loss: 20 percent. (The endowment covers 15 campuses.)

Source: Associated Press

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