ID :
29201
Sat, 11/08/2008 - 22:59
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/29201
The shortlink copeid
Global financial meltdown adversely affects universities in US
New York, Nov 8 (PTI) The global financial crisis has adversely affected the public and private universities across the U.S., which have resorted to measures like postponing construction projects, freeze on hiring and putting off planned capital campaign.
With endowment values and charitable gifts likely to decline, the process of setting next year's tuition fee low enough to keep students coming, but high enough to support operations, is trickier than ever, a media report said Saturday.
Dozens of college presidents, especially of wealthy
institutions, have sent letters and e-mail to students and
their families describing their financial situation and
belt-tightening plans, the New York Times said.
Arizona State University, anticipating at least USD 25
million in budget cuts this fiscal year -— on top of the USD
30 million already cut -— is ending its contracts with as many
as 200 adjunct instructors, the paper said adding Boston
University, Cornell and Brown have announced selective hiring
freezes.
And Tufts University, which for the last two years has
been one of the few colleges in the country admitting the best
qualified applicants and meeting their full financial need,
may not be able to maintain that generosity for next year's
incoming class.
This winter, Tufts suspended new capital projects and
budgeted more for financial aid. But with the market downturn,
and the likelihood that more applicants will need bigger aid
packages, need-blind admissions may go by the wayside, the
Times said.
"The target of being need-blind is our highest priority,"
said Lawrence S Bacow, president of Tufts. "But with what's
happening in the larger economy, we expect that the incoming
class is going to be needier. That's the real uncertainty."
At Williams College, for example, President Morton Owen
Schapiro wrote that with last year's negative return on the
endowment and the worsening situation since June, some
renovation and facilities spending would be reduced and
nonessential openings left unfilled.
Many students, increasingly conscious of costs, are
flocking to their state universities; at Binghamton
University, part of the New York State university system,
applications were up 50 percent this fall.
But with this year's state budget problems, tuition
increases at public universities may be especially steep. Some
public universities have already announced mid-year tuition
increases. PTI
With endowment values and charitable gifts likely to decline, the process of setting next year's tuition fee low enough to keep students coming, but high enough to support operations, is trickier than ever, a media report said Saturday.
Dozens of college presidents, especially of wealthy
institutions, have sent letters and e-mail to students and
their families describing their financial situation and
belt-tightening plans, the New York Times said.
Arizona State University, anticipating at least USD 25
million in budget cuts this fiscal year -— on top of the USD
30 million already cut -— is ending its contracts with as many
as 200 adjunct instructors, the paper said adding Boston
University, Cornell and Brown have announced selective hiring
freezes.
And Tufts University, which for the last two years has
been one of the few colleges in the country admitting the best
qualified applicants and meeting their full financial need,
may not be able to maintain that generosity for next year's
incoming class.
This winter, Tufts suspended new capital projects and
budgeted more for financial aid. But with the market downturn,
and the likelihood that more applicants will need bigger aid
packages, need-blind admissions may go by the wayside, the
Times said.
"The target of being need-blind is our highest priority,"
said Lawrence S Bacow, president of Tufts. "But with what's
happening in the larger economy, we expect that the incoming
class is going to be needier. That's the real uncertainty."
At Williams College, for example, President Morton Owen
Schapiro wrote that with last year's negative return on the
endowment and the worsening situation since June, some
renovation and facilities spending would be reduced and
nonessential openings left unfilled.
Many students, increasingly conscious of costs, are
flocking to their state universities; at Binghamton
University, part of the New York State university system,
applications were up 50 percent this fall.
But with this year's state budget problems, tuition
increases at public universities may be especially steep. Some
public universities have already announced mid-year tuition
increases. PTI
