<p>well, i’m guessing the $20 million was supposed to be cut over several years, not all at once, and even then, there was probably a <em>proposed</em> budget that was well in excess of the $223 million you see for FY`10 .</p>
<p>Also, the 5% draw from the endowment is based on the amount of the endowment whereas, the 22% figure is based on the size of <em>the budget</em> that is derived from the endowment. Different denominators.</p>
<p>And, yes some commentators (notably, Interesteddad), would say Middlebury’s debt makes its financial picture appear “out of equilibrium”. However, the biggest variable is how much longer the recession will continue to cause bearish sentiment to prevail upon the equity markets? If things look up by the end of this year, Middlebury and most of its peers will have dodged a bullet with some deferred construction and a few negligible adjustments to their enrollments. However, much longer than that and you could see some “game-changing” situations develop in places no one could have foreseen only a few years ago.</p>