An odd thing during these times of declining endowment income- several New England colleges are doing OK. In a Boston Globe piece several smaller tuition driven schools report that the relationship with their students and school growth haven’t yet changed much. They’re used to offering good value and opportunities- funded predominately with tuition dollars. Smaller endowment income never allowed them to grow beyond defined means.

Ronald Champagne, president of Merrimack College told the Boston Globe:

“In these hard economic times, institutions that relied heavily on their endowments, like Harvard, suffered the greatest losses in terms of impact on their operating budget…In a sense, we have a blessing in disguise.”

A boarding school head recently expressed similar sentiment during a conversation- explaining that he was used to covering all of his school’s expenses with tuition dollars. With fewer dollars, there would of course be cuts and reductions and he’s prepared several budget drafts based on varying enrollments. But, he said, the big schools who’ve become used to supplementing operating costs with endowment income will be pinched the hardest. In some cases, well endowed schools have developed high fixed overhead that isn’t easily adjusted downward during tight times.

Experience living with one’s means has it’s advantages.

The number of boards and school heads addressing the tight economic climate and communicating with their constituencies honestly and directly on these matters- while not a solution- provides some measure of comfort. Tackling the issues honestly and directly beats all the options.