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GREENSBORO — College endowments suffered drastic drops last fiscal year, but that came as no surprise to leaders at area institutions.

“Because of the market in general, we fell by about the same amount as everybody else did,” said Jill Hillyer, assistant vice chancellor for foundation finance at UNCG.

A study released Thursday by the National Association of College and University Business Officers and Commonfund Institute showed college endowments lost an average of 18.7 percent between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009.

The study used information from 842 colleges and universities across the country, including UNCG, Guilford, Elon and High Point.

UNCG’s endowment fell from about $184 million in the 2008 fiscal year to $152 million in 2009 , representing a negative change of 17 percent.

Hillyer said the drop affected some student scholarships that were established within the last 10 years. Some scholarships could not be awarded last year, and a lot of them were smaller scholarships, Hillyer said.

“We have very few endowments that are full rides,” she said.

As of Dec. 31, 2009, the university’s endowment was up to $174.4 million, university officials said.

Other North Carolina schools mentioned in the study include Davidson, Winston-Salem State, Wake Forest and Salem College.

Of the Triad colleges, High Point experienced the largest change.

Its endowment dropped 30 percent, falling from 43.1 million in 2008 to $30 million last year.

Bill Duncan, vice president for financial affairs at High Point, cited the market’s general decline as the obvious reason for the endowment’s losses. But he also said the college has focused in recent years on building up the campus to support the growth in enrollment it has experienced.

The university has raised a substantial amount of money in the past few years, but it has gone to capital improvements, rather than to the endowment. The size of the campus has more than doubled, he said.

Elon was the only area school that saw a small gain last year. Its endowment rose 1.5 percent from $80.6 million to $81.8 million.

Dan Anderson, Elon’s assistant vice president and director of university relations, said one reason for that growth is the Ever Elon campaign, which began in 2006.

It’s aimed specifically at increasing the endowment. To date, about $73 million in gifts and pledges have been raised, Anderson said. The goal is $100 million.

Anderson said Elon has switched its endowment management firm, and a large part of its endowment was in cash rather than investments when the market took its biggest hit.

Guilford’s endowment fell from $68.4 million to $53.8 million last fiscal year.

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 373-7080 or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com