The compensation for five of its top managers and its former chief executive was $26.8 million for the fiscal year ended June 30.

Richard C. Levin, Yale’s president, said in a letter to the university’s faculty that Yale could be facing a $100 million shortfall in the 2009 school year.

The university estimated that the value of endowment had fallen $5.9 billion as the decline in asset values during the financial crisis took its toll on another university.

To understand why investors are selling more than $100 billion worth of buyout investments at a huge loss, Ivy Leaguers might have to think outside the box.

University officials have been told to expect a 30 percent drop in the endowment’s value because of the financial turmoil.

The university’s endowment, the largest in the nation, has lost about 22 percent of its value as its U.S. and foreign stock portfolios have taken hits, school officials said.

The university’s endowment, the largest in the nation, has lost about 22 percent of its value as its U.S. and foreign stock portfolios have taken hits, school officials said.

In letters and meetings, elite schools in New York say applications and donations remain strong.

Against the real likelihood of financial doom for so many people, what precisely do we owe our alma maters at a time like this?

Against the real likelihood of financial doom for so many people, what precisely do we owe our alma maters at a time like this?