Many universities are having a tough time weathering the economic storm because of state-funding shortfalls and dwindling endowments. Humanities programs at public universities like the University of Iowa and University of Minnesota have been cut. Kean University in New Jersey has proposed restructuring and merging some programs. Nevada's top higher education official earlier this year suggested closing the state's only medical school. But HBCUs have taken a harder hit, experts say. Given their smaller endowments, lower levels of alumni support and overreliance on tuition, the recession has had a significant impact on HBCUs, says Dr. Marybeth Gasman, a University of Pennsylvania professor of higher education history. Reducing or streamlining courses has been a painful yet unavoidable measure at many schools during the recession. On the up side, most institutions have not made significant changes to their academic programs, says Dr. Elfred Anthony Pinkard, executive director for the UNCF Institute for Capacity Building in Atlanta, which works with private HBCUs to strengthen fundraising, enrollment and retention and academic programming. Moreover, some bright spots have emerged during the crisis--reports of enrollment jumps and program and campus expansions at a few minority-serving institutions, particularly at smaller, private colleges.