Harvard University, known for having the largest endowment among universities, announced earlier this week that its endowment shrunk by 22 percent, or more than $8 billion, in the last four months. The Harvard Crimson says it’s the endowment’s biggest drop in modern history.

Officials are saying that this might even be an underestimate of the actual decline. According to the Crimson, Harvard president Drew Faust warned deans to expect a 30 percent drop by middle of next year. She also said that such a decrease would have significant impacts on budgets since 35 percent of the university’s budget is funded by the endowment.

Last week, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences announced a hiring freeze for staff positions, while ongoing faculty searches were allowed to continue.

Down the road, MIT said it would cut spending by 10 to 15 percent over the next 2-3 years.

Update (Dec 10): The Crimson reported last night that professors with Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences have had their salaries frozen. And of the 50 faculty searches underway, only 15 have been allowed to continue, with the others on hold. The FAS is expecting a budget shortfall of at least $100 million (about 8 percent of the operating budget).

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