Smaller college endowments performed better than large endowments in average returns in fiscal year 2010, according to The New York Times. While institutions with larger endowments may take greater risks, those without such endowments are more likely to invest in traditional assets, according to preliminary data from the Nacubo-Commonfund Study of Endowments, a study of 80 colleges and universities that will be released in January, The Times reported. These traditional assets fared well from the sell-off the previous year and declining interest rates. Endowments of under $25 million had an average return of almost 2 percent more than endowments of over $1 billion.
Arizona voters on Tuesday approved Proposition 107, a measure designed to ban affirmative action, Inside Higher Ed reported. The state joins California, Michigan and Washington as the states to have outlawed any consideration of race, ethnicity or gender by the state government. Institutions particularly affected by the proposition are public colleges and universities, which could be forced to eliminate minority outreach programs, according to Inside Higher Ed. Professors of fields known to be lacking in gender diversity, such as engineering, expressed concern that affirmative action is necessary to maintain a diverse class. Although some higher education institutions are race-neutral when determining admissions, the University of Arizona does take gender and race into account. The other states that have already passed similar propositions experienced dramatic drops in enrollment of minorities, the report said. Proponents of the proposition claim that affirmative action is no longer beneficial or needed, according to Inside Higher Ed.
A new report released by the National Center for Education Statistics showed that fewer university instructors are working full-time. From the fall of 2003 to the fall of 2009, the proportion of professors working full-time has dropped steadily. Although all institutions experienced significant decreases, private, two-year institutions saw a 10 percent drop in their proportions of full-time professors. Additionally, both private and public institutions have increasing proportions of female professors, according to the report.
