Sagging economy hits UGA foundations

Athens — The University of Georgia likely will see cuts to student scholarships, faculty travel and other programs after the two private foundations supporting the institution lost about $180 million in assets in the last year.

The UGA Foundation and the Arch Foundation had a combined worth of about $730 million in June 2008. The two have lost about 25 percent of their assets as the sagging economy worsened.

UGA Provost Arnett Mace says the university will have to cut dozens of scholarships, research support and other programs to deal with the decrease in funding from the foundations.

The two foundations gave UGA a total of $40 million in the 2007-08 fiscal year, the most recent data available.