Stanford’s budget woes

![via www.stanford.edu](http://www.stanford.edu/dept/lc/Fulbrights/images/orientation_clip_image002_0000.jpg)

via www.stanford.edu

*The Financial Times* has a short but excellent [rundown](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f7a858b6-2d43-11de-8710-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1) of the toll that America’s economic downturn has taken on college endowments.

Elite American universities have faced a perfect storm of events in the past year: the number of applications has grown while large swaths of the endowment have contracted.

Here are the facts:

Elite colleges’ endowments have declined “an average of 24%” from June to December of last year.
Applications for the Stanford Class of 2013 were up 20%. A record-setting 30,428 students applied for 2,300 spots. A 7.6% final admission rate.
According to Provost Echemendy, **Stanford is committed to pay $110m in financial aid next year, $10m more than last year. **
**The University has needed to cut $300 million dollars from its $3.5 billion operating budget **due to declines in endowment.
**Stanford has frozen staff salaries.
**
**Stanford has ended a $1.3bn capital works program. **
Stanford will lay off about 350 people in this fiscal year.