Correction appended
Dartmouth's reported endowment loss of six percent is lower than that reported by many of its peer institutions, some of which posted deficits as high as 25 percent.
Dartmouth has lost a smaller percentage of its endowment than both Harvard University, which announced on Dec. 1 that its endowment had dropped 22 percent in four months, and Yale University, which reported on Dec. 16 that its endowment had decreased by 25 percent since June.
Although Columbia University has not released exact numbers, its endowment decrease is comparable to Harvard's, according to U.S. News and Report.
Dartmouth has also fared better than many small, private colleges that are not in the Ivy League. Middlebury College's endowment fell by 19 percent between July and November, and Amherst College's had lost 25 percent as of Dec. 4.
The decrease in the University of Pennsylvania's endowment was similar to Dartmouth's -- Penn lost about seven percent between June and November.
"Many endowments have lost value," said Ken Redd, director of research and policy analysis for the National Association of College and University Business Officers. "The impact on colleges, especially at a private institution, is pretty big."
Jeffrey Miron, director of undergraduate studies of Harvard's economic department, suggested that schools with smaller endowments have generally experienced smaller losses.
"In the extreme case, if you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose," Miron said.
Dartmouth has a $3.4-billion endowment, as compared with Harvard's, which is $29 billion, and Yale's, which is $17 billion.
Public universities, Miron said, have also experienced losses because of decreasing state budgets. Twenty-seven states have reduced the budgets of their universities because of state budget deficits caused by the economic recession, according to an analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
"I'm sure some [institutions] are suffering more than others," Miron said. "But broadly, all schools have gone down. The schools funded by state governments especially are going to suffer because those [state government] budgets have gone down."
Like Dartmouth, many schools have responded to endowment losses with budget constrictions.
A national survey of more than 200 colleges conducted by the Chronicle of Higher Education and Moody's Investors Service found that 11 percent of colleges had laid off employees and 26 percent were considering layoffs to cut costs.
After losing approximately $260 million of its endowment in six months, Syracuse University fired nearly 50 staff members as part of its plan to cut down on costs, according to WSYR-TV.
Many schools, such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will likely raise tuition, the Capital Times reported Wednesday. Others, such as the University of Florida, plan to reduce financial aid, according to Phil Oliff, policy analyst for the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities.
Like Dartmouth, though, many schools are trying to preserve financial aid, Redd said.
In it's attempt to implement a planned $40 million budget cutback, Dartmouth has enacted a hiring freeze, reduced all college discretionary spending and deferred several construction projects, but administrators have said the College will not alter its financial aid program.
The original version of this article stated that Harvard University's endowment is $17 billion and Yale University's endowment is $28 billion. In fact, Harvard's endowment is $29 billion, and Yale's endowment is $17 billion.
