<p>Here’s a starting point for Vassar, their “Vassar and the Economy” website. It’s very comprehensive:</p>
<p>[Home</a> - Vassar and the Economy - Vassar College](<a href=“http://economy.vassar.edu/index.html]Home”>Institutional Research – Vassar College)</p>
<p>Vassar’s #1 problem is that they grew enrollment faster than their endowmnent, diluting their “per student endowment” which now stands at about one-third that of Swarthmore. This means that they have been forced to try to compete with the “big boys” on things like need-blind admissions, but with less available money from the endowment each year. So where, Swarthmore spends an average of 4.2% from its endowment, Vassar struggled to get its endowment spending rate down below 5.5% – even before the market crash. They had been “out of elibrium” (i.e. spending down the endowment) earlier this decade, leaving them with no cushion at all to absorb the market crash. That’s why they’ve seen immediate cuts in staff (80 positions) and faculty (19 fewer non-tenure positions) where Swarthmore has not.</p>
<p>Vassar is by no means alone. Most colleges are having to cut real muscle from their programs right now. </p>
<p>I’ve posted a fairly detailed synopsis of Swarthmore’s budget situation here, so I won’t repeat it all.</p>