Harvard University is considering spending cuts because the economic slowdown may reduce federal grants and the school's substantial endowment, President Drew Faust said Monday.

Harvard's endowment posted an 8.6 percent return and grew to $36.9 billion in the fiscal year that ended June 30. The school, however, lost 12.7 percent on its U.S. stock portfolio and 12.1 percent on its foreign equity portfolio during that time.

Still, Faust warned in an e-mail to faculty, staff and students that "we must recognize that Harvard is not invulnerable to the seismic financial shocks in the larger world. Our own economic landscape has been significantly altered."

"We need to be prepared to absorb unprecedented endowment losses and plan for a period of greater financial restraint," she said.

Harvard's is the nation's largest university endowment and provides about a third of the annual operating budget. Faust said the school is looking at ways to cut spending and will review compensation costs, which account for nearly half of the budget.

Harvard also is reviewing its ambitious expansion program, including plans announced early last year to expand across the Charles River from its Cambridge campus into Allson, she said.

"We will need to plan and act in ways that reflect that reality, to assure that we continue to advance our priorities for teaching, research and service," she said.

The school intends to implement initiatives to make education affordable to students from low- and middle-income families, and will ensure that those with income below $60,000 will pay nothing to send children to Harvard College. Those earning up to $180,000 can expect to pay no more than about 10 percent of their income, she said.

Harvard's efforts to address the economic downturn mirror what is happening elsewhere in the country, including other Ivy League schools. While wealthy schools can fare better in a downturn, they are also seen as vulnerable to prolonged market slumps because they tend to fund a greater portion of their budget from their endowment.

哈佛大学校长德鲁•福斯特于本周一称，由于经济危机可能会导致联邦教育拨款和捐赠基金减少，学校目前正考虑缩减开支。

在截至今年6月30日的财政年度中，哈佛大学的捐赠基金收益率达8.6%，增至369亿美元。但在这一阶段，该校在国内和境外的证券投资收益分别损失了12.7%和12.1%。

福斯特在发给全校教职工和学生的一封电子邮件中称：“我们必须认识到，哈佛也无法幸免此次全球金融风暴的影响。目前我们的经济状况已被显著改变。”

她说：“我们必须做好准备，以面对捐赠基金的大幅减少及今后一段时期的开支紧缩。”

哈佛大学获得的捐赠基金居全美高校之首，其年度预算的三分之一都来源于此。福斯特称，目前学校正在想办法缩减开支，并考虑调整薪酬政策，哈佛大学每年的薪酬成本占其总预算的近一半。

此外，哈佛正重新考虑其校区扩建计划，比如去年年初提出的跨过查尔斯河，将学校从坎布里奇校区扩张至奥尔森的计划。

她说：“我们必须因时制宜，保证优先发展教学、科研及服务。”

学校将采取一些措施，以保证中低收入家庭的学生顺利入学；此外，学校还打算免去家庭年收入低于6万美元的本科生的学杂费。家庭年收入达18万美元的学生所支付的学费也不会超过其家庭总收入的10%。

哈佛大学应对经济危机的举措并非特例，其它“常青藤”盟校也采取了类似措施。虽然财政状况较好的大学在金融危机中不至于太难，但由于它们比其他学校更依赖捐赠基金，因此也会受到市场长期萧条的影响。