Colby endowment drops 25%
The nation's current financial crisis has reduced the value of Colby College's $630 million endowment by more than 25%.
William Adams, the Waterville college's president, announced the drop in endowment Oct. 18 in his annual state of the college address given during the college's homecoming weekend, according to the Kennebec Journal. Adams attributed the decline in part to Wachovia Bank's closure in September of the Commonfund, a money-market fund that helps nonprofit institutions with investment management. Colby was one of 900 higher education institutions affected by the closure, and so far has only received about 50% of its assets back from the Commonfund, according to a transcript of Adams' speech. The endowment makes up as much as 19% of the college's annual revenues.
Adams said Colby would likely feel financial constraint for the "next 12 months or 24 months," but said the college is still committed to continuing its program, launched last year, of eliminating loans from student financial aid packages.
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