<p>Carolyn and Gasdoc, </p>
<p>It is great to see that the Campaign for the Colleges has been so successful despite the economic downturn. You may know this already but they only have about $8 million more to go before accomplishing their goal. [HWS:</a> Campaign for the Colleges](<a href=“http://www.hws.edu/alumni/campaign/]HWS:”>404)</p>
<p>Matt, thanks for the informative posts. When students’ eyes glaze over in reading so many catalogs and brochures, some of the finer points of academic opportunities can be lost to them, so it’s helpful to point out some useful distinctions. Thank you for the information about the joint dual degree programs with some great schools. I grew up in St. Louis so I’m partial to Washington University! 
I hope your friend is enjoying his education and time there.</p>
<p>Also, as a parent of a first-year, I hadn’t realized the Campaign for the Colleges was in the home stretch with only $8 million remaining from the $160 million goal. That says a tremendous amount about the support of the alumni/ae----what their experience at HWS means to them and their enthusiasm for and faith in the current administration and direction of the school. And as you pointed out, within the context of the current economic crisis!</p>
<p>A couple words about students turning down Ivies/top-league institutions for HWS: it’s been my experience (I’m a sophomore) that these students tend to choose HWS due to a combination of its smaller size (especially when compared to Cornell or Yale, for example) and the fact that many of them received sizable aid here, versus little to none at the more competitive schools. </p>
<p>I will have to disagree (or at least not emphatically agree) with two of mattJastn6’s points.
Study abroad: yes, it’s nice to have an excellent study abroad program, but I’m more concerned with the success of HWS rather than the study abroad program (which I am participating in, and which I am being charged $850 in administrative fees and deposits for). And it is true that HWS does get many excellent guest speakers, but I’m not sure whether this speaks as much to the institution’s strength as it does to the institution’s ability to get guest speakers. As for the professors - I feel that HWS certainly does have outstanding ones, middle-of-the road ones, and (thankfully rarely) mediocre ones. </p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, HWS has done a pretty good job of managing the current economic crisis. The Board of Trustees apparently is very involved in overseeing investments, and was able to act quickly when the markets started heading south - as opposed to some of our peer institutions, which were burned more badly. Of course, the endowment - which was in the neighborhood of $180 million last year - dropped down to around $140 million as of the spring (not sure where it’s at now), but that’s happening across the board. I know there’s been a hiring freeze here and a bunch of restrictions on faculty travel, etc. Despite a couple of minor criticisms (and that’s always a good thing, I think), I am confident in the administration’s ability to navigate HWS through these tough times.</p>
<p>The only thing that worries me is that HWS is very dependent upon tuition (about 55% of operating revenue), while the endowment accounts for slightly under 9% of that figure (these numbers are correct as of April 2009). This means that our exposure to a drop in endowment has been less severe than, say, Harvard or Yale, but also means that when times are good, we have less money to attract outstanding students and to spend on institutional advancement.</p>