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Harvard's Endowment Loses $8 Billion

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Dec 3, 2008 8:34 am US/Eastern

Harvard's Endowment Loses $8 Billion

CAMBRIDGE (AP) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: Students outside Widner Library, Harvard University.
AP

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Harvard officials say the university's largest-in-the-nation endowment lost an estimated 22 percent of its value, or about $8 billion, in the four months since the end of the last fiscal year.

The endowment was worth $36.9 billion as of last June 30.

The drop will require Harvard to take a "hard look at hiring, staffing levels, and compensation," university President Drew Faust and Executive Vice President Edward Forst wrote in a letter informing deans of the losses.

They say the university should plan for a 30 percent drop in endowment value by next June 30.

Forst tells The Harvard Crimson student newspaper that the 22 percent estimate may be conservative because some university money is handled by external managers that have yet to report figures.