Colleges Find Creative Ways to Cut Back

A funky roommate named recession is settling in on campuses this fall as colleges and universities slash budgets for virtually everything from salad bars to ski teams. U.S. colleges and universities suffered, on average, a 23% endowment drop in the second half of last year, according to a study by a group of campus business officers. That reduction in funding has set off a scramble to freeze hiring, cut hours and hunker down until the economy improves. “Institutions will have to manage with less,” says Oberlin’s vice president for finance, Ron Watts. Here’s a look at how schools are getting creative with their wallets.

Maintenance

DICKINSON COLLEGE Is saving $150,000 a year by dumping its free laundry service

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO Will curtail trash removal and window-washing to save $122,000

SUNY-CANTON Is holding on to $25,000 by mowing lawns less frequently

PITZER COLLEGE Will keep $80,000 by power-washing sidewalks and windows once, instead of twice, annually

Academics

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY Cut 48 undergraduate and graduate programs, from art history to archaeology

WISCONSIN LUTHERAN COLLEGE Lost its political-science major

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS Will phase out its bachelor’s in health sciences

IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY Cut some unpopular courses in German, Russian, Arabic and Chinese

GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY Told faculty and staff to take as many as eight days of unpaid leave

BROWN UNIVERSITY Instituted a hiring freeze

STANFORD UNIVERSITY Let go of 49 staffers from its graduate school of business

Dining

HARVARD UNIVERSITY Got rid of weekday hot breakfasts at undergrad dorms, saving $900,000

DAVIDSON COLLEGE Cut $10,000 in costs by using tap water at events

CARLETON COLLEGE Will save $3,800 by skipping shrimp and wine at annual faculty parties

CONCORDIA COLLEGE Reduced food waste by 40% when it ditched its cafeteria trays earlier this year

COLLEGE OF WOOSTER Closed a dining hall

Athletics

BRYN MAWR COLLEGE Saved $900 when its women’s swim team held a virtual meet against nearby Dickinson; each team’s swimmers raced in their home pool, and then they compared times to declare winners

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Kept $485,000 by cutting eight varsity sports teams, including the hand-pistol, alpine-skiing and wrestling teams

WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Punted its 100-member football team, saving $485,000

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Asked its cheerleaders to hang up their pom-poms, saving $45,000

Communications

WHITTIER COLLEGE Eliminated one day of freshman orientation, saving $50,000

WHITMAN COLLEGE Sliced $20 from each student’s free-printing allotment

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON Disconnected landlines in the communications department to save $1,100 a month

CORNELL COLLEGE Won’t update landline voice-mail systems in this era of cell phones

ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Netted $10,000 by going digital, moving some athletics publications online