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<p>Sorry, but any college that’s been spending 15% of endowment on current operating expenses was already in a death spiral before the recent market downturn, and deserves to vanish from the face of this planet. I’ve never heard of such a thing. The usual target is something in the vicinity of 5% of endowment assets, calculated on a 3-year (or 5-year, or 7-year) moving average of the fair market values of the endowment. The reason for the averaging is to smooth out short-term market gyrations, and the longer the averaging period, the less short-term fluctuation. Any school that’s spending 15% of endowment is “eating the seed corn.” as our farmer ancestors would have put it; basically, looting the endowment to make ends meet in the short term. I refuse to believe any college president or Board of Trustees is that short-sighted.</p>