Maine’s private colleges are monitoring their endowments and taking steps to trim spending in the hope of weathering a global economic crisis that’s threatening the financial stability of public and private colleges and universities across the nation.

The state’s private colleges, where annual tuition and fees range from $34,000 to $50,000 per student, are not considering layoffs or program reductions just yet. But they are reining in spending and preparing for tougher times ahead.

Bates gives June figures

At Bates College in Lewiston, the school’s $267 million endowment as of June had declined 3 percent for fiscal 2008, but Bryan McNulty, a spokesman for the college, said there are no plans for drastic changes in the college’s immediate future or to reduce financial aid to students.

In the 2007 fiscal year, the school’s endowment yielded a 20 percent return and totaled about $275 million. Information about how much the most recent downturn has affected the endowment has not been released. About $12.5 million of Bates’ $87.7 million annual budget this year came from its endowment.

In a letter posted on the school’s Web site on Tuesday, Bates President Elaine Tuttle Hansen said the college is preparing its budget for next year and is seeking to make savings without significantly impacting students or staff.

“We have changed all our remaining variable debt to a fixed rate of 4.7 percent, and with lower energy prices, we have locked in favorable gas rates for the next two years,” she said in the statement. “We will continue to seek other such opportunities as they may arise The short-term, practical, local and seemingly small steps we take now, together with continued investment in the most important things we do, will cumulatively ensure our stability and productivity.”

Bowdoin keeps mum

At Bowdoin College in Brunswick, administrators won’t say how much the school’s $831 million endowment has dropped since June, though it funds 24 percent of Bowdoin’s $117 million annual budget.

“We are being affected like everybody else and we are taking steps to mitigate that,” said spokesman Scott Hood.

“Bowdoin has been here through the Civil War, two world wars and the Great Depression. It’s well positioned to get through this economic downturn.”

On Tuesday, Bowdoin President Barry Mills announced that he has established a committee of faculty, staff and students to work with top administrators to consider the college’s financial situation over the next few years.

“Bowdoin’s endowment is strong and doing well relative to the markets generally,” Mills wrote in a letter posted on the college’s Web site.

“Our situation is better than that of other colleges and universities that have recently reported endowment figures in the press. Nonetheless we are experiencing losses that will put pressure on our budgets for the foreseeable future.”

Last month, Mills announced a freeze on new construction projects until funding is available; ongoing capital projects, including a $14.7 million fitness center adjacent to Morrell Gymnasium, will continue. He also limited over-budget spending to price increases on staples such as food and fuel, and he asked staff to look for ways to save on things like travel, professional development and outside contracts for work that could be done in-house.

In addition, Bowdoin administrators are reviewing staff vacancies to ensure that only necessary positions are filled, and the college won’t add new faculty members unless they are funded by an endowment, Hood said.

Colby more revealing

Colby College in Waterville has been more open about its financial situation, aligning with Middlebury College in Vermont, which has posted in-depth information about the recession’s impact on its Web site.

Colby’s $630 million endowment was down more than 25 percent, President William Adams said in his Family Homecoming Weekend address on Oct. 18. Over the last five years, the college spent an average of 4 percent of the endowment’s market value to fund about 19 percent of Colby’s $119 million annual budget.

As a result of the downturn, use of endowment will be constrained, capital projects will be delayed and spending on anything but essential programs will be limited, Adams said.

In addition, Colby’s department managers have been asked to look for ways to reduce or defer spending this year and submit budgets for next year that are level-funded or lower, said David Eaton, spokesman.

UNE ‘tuition driven’

The University of New England, which has campuses in Portland and Biddeford, has a $22 million endowment that is “diversified enough to weather the storm,” said spokeswoman Kathleen Taggersell.

The endowment funds less than 1 percent of the university’s $110 million annual budget, Taggersell said. UNE also has a $21 million scholarship pool, only 2 percent of which is funded by its endowment.

“We are more tuition-driven than some other schools,” Taggersell said. “Last year was our best financial year ever, so we’re in a reasonably good place in a weak economy.”

St. Joseph’s ‘waiting’

At St. Joseph’s College in Standish, the school’s endowment dropped 12.4 percent to about $9 million in the quarter ending Sept. 30, and fell again to $8.8 million by the end of October, said Philip Yauch, chief financial officer.

To offset any potential impact on this year’s $30 million operating budget and $10 million financial aid program, the college is lowering thermostats, reviewing all purchase orders and staff vacancies before filling them and delaying capital projects such as technology upgrades and a new environmental science laboratory.

“We’re going to have to wait and see how it goes,” Yauch said. “Unfortunately, it’s hard to determine how long it will be before it gets better. Even the experts don’t know how to analyze it.”

Harvard University, Middlebury College and other institutions are reporting endowment losses as high as 35 percent as a result of investments in a rickety stock market.

Some are in the midst of bold efforts to manage the impact on current and future budgets.

Maine’s public university and community college systems are struggling to make mid-year spending cuts and layoffs totaling $14 million, and they may curb course offerings and enrollments in the future.

Sun Journal staff writer Rebekah Metzler contributed to this report.