Elite Colleges Have a Looming Money Problem

They gave it the old college try, but America’s elite universities are facing money problems partly of their own creation. It might not seem that way compared with the broader world of U.S. higher education. Ivy League institutions and a handful in a similar orbit like Stanford, Duke and the University of Chicago aren’t just blessed to have international cachet and their pick of excellent students and professors—they also have the most money and the richest alumni. By contrast, public and especially smaller private colleges and universities are cutting staff and programs. Many are closing outright.