CONCORD, N.H.—Dartmouth College will lay off 60 administrative employees this week and cut its budget by $72 million over the next two years in response to a sharp decline in its endowment.

Those laid off and a like number who recently accepted buyouts amount to about 3 percent of Dartmouth's 4,400 employees.

No tenured professors or tenure-track faculty are being laid off, but most salaries will be frozen beginning July 1, college President James Wright said Monday in announcing the layoffs. The plan, which has been approved by the Ivy League school's trustees, will allow Dartmouth to preserve academic excellence while continuing to expand financial aid for students, he said.

Last fall, Dartmouth began offering free tuition to students from families that earn $75,000 or less a year. Financial aid will rise 13 percent next year, Wright said.

"Approving these reductions, especially those affecting staff employees, has been one of the most difficult decisions of my presidency, but they are necessary to maintain Dartmouth's strength and advance our academic mission," he said.

The recession and Wall Street meltdown have hammered endowments at virtually all private colleges and universities. Last week, Harvard said it would cut about 50 jobs at the company that manages its endowment, which has lost $8 billion in four months.

Cornell University has cut 15 positions this year after eliminating 67 last year, spokesman Simeon Moss said Monday.

Wright declined to specify which positions are being eliminated at Dartmouth, but said the college has laid off staff twice before in the past two decades.

Dartmouth's endowment covers about a third of the $450 million budget for undergraduate programs. In the last half of last year, investment returns dropped 18 percent and the endowment fell $700 million to $3 billion, the school said.

The college sought to minimize layoffs by freezing hiring and offering retirement incentives last fall.

Laid-off workers will get between two weeks' and a year's pay depending on long they've worked at Dartmouth; money to cover health insurance for three months; and career counseling. Another 28 workers will have their hours reduced.

"We appreciate the service and dedication of the staff members who will be leaving Dartmouth. The college will be as supportive as possible of these individuals through this difficult period of transition," said Ed Haldeman, chairman of the trustees.

Dartmouth and its medical, business and engineering schools have a combined $700 million annual budget. Other planned cuts include deferring building projects and some outside faculty recruitment, and cutting the number of courses taught annually by 30 to 35.

On the revenue side, the college is raising tuition and total costs for undergraduates by about 4.8 percent next year, bringing the total cost of attending Dartmouth to $49,974.

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