Cornell Cuts Budgets, Plans Tuition Increase

Cornell University has lost $1.45 billion of its endowment in the second half of 2008—due to "reduced state funding, endowment losses and a drop in donations" according to Bloomberg News—so now the school is cutting $50 million from the Ithaca campus budget and $13 million from the medical school here in NYC. The News also reports, "Undergraduates at the university's 10 privately endowed colleges will pay 4% more next year - sending tuition to a whopping $37,750. Tuition at four other Cornell colleges that receive state funding will rise by 7.2%, bringing the total to $21,610 for instate residents." NYU also announced its endowment lost 19%, bringing it to about $2 billion. The NY Times notes that college endowments "fell about 23 percent on average in the five months ended Nov. 30."