Donations down at colleges and universities

From The New York Times: As the stock market soared for two decades, college and university endowments swelled with gifts. Over the last 10 years, contributions to higher education have risen an average of 4.1 percent a year, despite the downturn. These endowments enabled many public universities to help offset declines in government contributions and let many private universities increase financial aid to a widening number of families. But in 2009, giving to 1,027 universities and colleges plummeted 11.9 percent, to $27.85 billion, according to data compiled by the Council for Aid to Education, the greatest single annual decline since the Depression. Fund-raising advisers and experts anticipate a slow recovery.