U.S. College Endowments Lost 24 Percent in Six Months

"These are the worst-ever half year results that educational endowments have seen," Commonfund executive director John Griswold said in an interview. "Even the most diversified endowments suffered serious declines."

Harvard University, the country's richest, reported in December that its endowment had shrunk by $8 billion to $29 billion in four months and that it expects that loss to widen to 30 percent by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2009. (Please click here to read a recent Globe story on some of the impact a shrunken endowment has had on Harvard.)