Harder Times
An update on the University’s initial responses to the worsening economic climate
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Harvard Finances
The Endowment: Each School’s Stake
(Sidebar) The shrinking Harvard endowment affects the University’s different schools differently.
1.1.09
Harvard Borrows $2.5 Billion: The Costs and Rationale
The University moved quickly to sell new bond issues, to refund existing short-term debt, to increase financial flexibility, and as it turns out to extricate itself from expensive interest-rate swap agreements.
12.19.08
Endowment Managers' Compensation Reported
Harvard Management Company has issued its annual report on the compensation of its highest-earning investment professionals, likely a sensitive subject when their past performance has strongly exceeded the market but attention is now focused on the sharp decline in endowment-asset values.
12.19.08
Yale Estimates 25 Percent Endowment Decline, Phases Budget Cuts
Yale disclosed the impact of the financial markets on its endowment, and outlined a series of phased budget-cutting measures.
12.16.08
Government and Medical Schools Pursue Cost Cutting
Harvard’s government and medical schools are pursuing cost reductions of up to 10 percent in next year’s budget.
12.10.08
Faculty Seeks $100-Million to $130-Million Cost Cuts, Slashes Searches
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences has outlined large cost cuts, even after freezing salaries and slashing the number of faculty searches it will authorize.
12.10.08
FAS Details Debt, Financial Challenges
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences has detailed its debt, spending, and other financial challenges as it prepares much leaner budgets in light of the sharp decline in Harvard’s endowment.
12.7.08
Endowment Declines 22 Percent through October 31
Harvard’s endowment declined 22 percent through October 31, so the University is responding with budget reductions and a new financial strategy of substantial borrowing to maximize flexibility in light of uncertain market conditions.
12.2.08
Dean Outlines FAS’s Financial Straits
Dean Michael D. Smith outlined for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences the severe challenges—as much as a $200-million shortfall in revenue—looming in the next year as the endowment declines in value.
11.19.08
Endowment Issues: Each School's Exposure
Each Harvard unit is exposed to declining endowment values, but to different degrees; the schools’ exposures are detailed, using University data, and FAS’s dean writes to his faculty about an unprecedented financial squeeze.
11.12.08
"Harvard Is Not Invulnerable" to Shocks: Faust's Sober Financial Message
President Drew Faust today e-mailed a letter to faculty, students, and staff, highlighting the “extraordinary turbulence still roiling the world’s financial markets and the broader economy.”
11.10.08
University Endowments: The Gathering Storm
A look at Harvard’s reliance on endowment income to fund academic operations; the news from other academic institutions; and the composition of the endowment
11.7.08
Endowment Edges Up in a Down Year
Harvard’s endowment grows in fiscal year 2008 by $2.0 billion, or 5.7 percent, to $36.9 billion.
11.1.08
In the Black
A summary of the Harvard University Financial Report for fiscal year 2008