<p>I have seen a lot of the top 25 LACs/National Univs taking steps to deal with the financial crisis/recession. I'm wondering if anyone has any insight into which of the top schools are in better shape and which are in worse shape. </p>
<p>For instance, some schools use endowment payouts to fund over 1/3 of their annual operating budget (e.g., Harvard). Also, some schools are in the midst of building sprees or have incurred lots of debt to pay for recent building sprees (e.g., Harvard). </p>
<p>It would seem to me that the schools that are less reliant on the endowment to fund their operating expenses and that are carrying less debt are better suited to ride the recession out (e.g., Northwestern). Also, I would think schools that just completed successful fundraising campaigns (e.g., Williams) would be better off than those who are in the middle (e.g., Amherst). </p>
<p>Perhaps it doesn't matter in the long term for these schools, but I can't help but think that students will definitely be affected by budget cuts and hiring freezes that many schools are proposing in the short run. Appreciate any insight anyone can share on this topic.</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins just finished the largest (completed) capital campaign in US history; $3.75 billion dollars but relies on 5% payout from the endowment for operation expenditures and has halted faculty salary raises, top university administrators have voluntarily taken a 5% pay cut, and has increased tuition by 3.5%. Hopkins however is still continuing with the construction of $35 million dollars new library and $80 million dollar renovation of Gilman hall, which is the academic center piece on campus. This is largely due to the fact that we just completed a massive capital campaign and funds were already pledged/allocated to these projects to begin with.</p>
<p>Stanford is in middle of their capital campaign. They raised $3.8 billion dollars already and have a few short years to go until they reach the $4.3 billion dollar mark.</p>