Stanford’s woes are mild by comparison to the troubles of its public counterparts. Substantial reductions in state support for the University of California, California State University and the community college systems have led to hundreds of courses being canceled, employee furloughs, pay cuts and deep layoffs at public colleges and universities up and down the state. Yet Stanford isn’t the only well-heeled private university grazed, however lightly, by public-school-style budget cuts. The wealthiest, Harvard, estimates that its $37 billion endowment also fell by 30 percent, said spokesman John Longbrake. And Yale, at No. 2, recently estimated a loss of 25 percent, leaving its endowment at $17 billion. "This is a terrible time for American higher education," said Nancy Shulock, director of the Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy in Sacramento. "We’ve built our currency as a major economic power on educated individuals. The problem is real, and it’s serious."

Read full article [here].
by Nanette Asimov, The San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted: September 3rd, 2009, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.