Hoover Tower, left, stands on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009. Stanford University, which has the third largest U.S. university endowment, postponed $1.1 billion in construction projects as the school's endowment fell 27 percent to $12.6 billion through September. Photographer: Chip Chipman/Bloomberg via Getty Images